Quadcom urges OSG to file forfeiture cases vs. POGO bosses

HANDOVER. House Quad Committee officials turn over set of documents to Assistant Solicitor General Hermes Ocampo (4th from left) at the House of Representatives Monday (Oct. 21, 2024). The quad comm urged the Office of the Solicitor General to initiate legal actions against Chinese nationals accused of using fraudulent Filipino citizenship to illegally acquire land and operate businesses in the Philippines. (Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Zaldy De Layola, Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The House Quad Committee (Quadcom) on Monday handed over critical documents to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), calling for immediate legal action against Chinese nationals accused of acquiring fraudulent Filipino citizenship to illegally acquire real properties and operate businesses in the Philippines.

The panel’s chairpersons urged the OSG to expedite its review and initiate civil forfeiture proceedings, in coordination with other government agencies to safeguard national security and halt foreign exploitation.

The QuadCom comprises the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights and Public Accounts, chaired by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Surigao, 2nd District), Rep. Dan Fernandez (Sta. Rosa City), Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. (Manila, 6th Dist.) and Abang Lingkod Party-List Rep. Joselh Stephen Paduano, respectively.

Among the Chinese nationals being accused is Aedy Tai Yang, who is suspected of falsifying documents to obtain Filipino citizenship, which he allegedly used to skirt foreign ownership laws, enabling him to acquire land and set up businesses illegally.

Included in the submitted documents against Yang was his Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-issued birth certificate from 2004, despite his claim of being born in 1983. Records from the Municipal Civil Registry of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, indicate that his birth documents were destroyed in a fire, casting doubt on the legitimacy of his citizenship claim.

Further evidence includes certifications from the PSA on Yang’s marriage, tax declarations for properties in his name, and corporate records linked to him, such as those from Empire 999 Realty Corporation and Sunflare Industrial Supply Corp. These companies are tied to suspicious land acquisitions, with records from the Land Registration Authority (LRA) revealing properties owned by Empire 999’s incorporators.

Yang and his supposed incorporators in these corporations also owned the warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, where a shabu shipment worth PHP3.6 billion was seized in 2023.

The committee presented documents showing questionable land deals between Yang and the local government of Mexico, Pampanga, supported by Memorandums of Agreement, Deeds of Sale, and municipal resolutions that bypassed legal processes.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has confirmed that some of the lands sold by Yang did not undergo the required conversion process, further highlighting the illegal nature of these transactions.

In its letter to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, the Quadcom emphasized the national security risks posed by these activities, urging swift action.

“These actions are blatant violations of our laws and call for immediate executive intervention,” the committee said.

Assistant Solicitor Generals Hermes Ocampo and Gilbert Medrano, and Senior State Solicitor Neil Lorenzo, who joined the press conference, received the documents from Quadcom leaders.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, House Deputy Majority Leader David “Jay-jay” Suarez of Quezon, Quadcom vice chairperson Romeo Acop of Antipolo City, 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun also joined the ceremony.

The joint committee also called for the OSG to work with agencies such as the LRA, Securities and Exchange Commission, PSA, DAR, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Department of Justice to ensure a thorough investigation and legal enforcement.

The committee warned that failing to address these violations could have dire consequences for national security and the economy.

“We trust your office will prioritize this matter and act swiftly to protect the integrity of our nation’s legal and economic systems,” the quad comm said.

The document handover is part of the quad panel’s broader investigation into illegal POGOs, the drug trade, land grabbing by Chinese nationals, and extrajudicial killings linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

Yang has emerged as a central figure in these inquiries, representing what the committee views as a larger issue of foreign nationals exploiting legal loopholes to control land and businesses in the Philippines.

The committee called for decisive action to prevent further illegal acquisitions and to mitigate their harmful effects.

PNP: FPRRD receives invite to House probe

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday confirmed that former president Rodrigo Duterte has already received the invitation of the Quadcom to its ongoing investigation into the alleged human rights violations of his drug war.

Speaking to reporters at Camp Crame, Quezon City, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo declined to say when the invitation was received and who received it but said she received a photo of it being received as a proof.

Fajardo said the invitation was sent by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in compliance with the order from the lower chamber.

The hearing is scheduled on Tuesday.

The former president was invited to attend the hearing following the revelations of retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma that there was a reward system in the drug war.

Garma, a retired police colonel, alleged that Duterte and other ranking officials of his administration sanctioned covert operations on a national scale, replicating the Davao City model of supposed extrajudicial killings.

Garma said the model involved cash rewards for every person killed in the war against illegal drugs.

Duterte was also implicated in the killing of three Chinese drug lords inside a Davao penal colony barely a month after he became president.

The former president was earlier quoted saying that he would attend the hearing.

Fajardo, meanwhile, said they see no problem if the Senate would conduct its own investigation into the drug war.

“That is within the prerogative and power and authority ng Senate to schedule a hearing with respect to these issues and we cannot question that. But if the PNP will be invited in any of these hearings as always the PNP will cooperate,” said Fajardo.