PHILIPPINE Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino denied Tuesday, April 9, that he was coddling the illegal drug operations of President Rodrigo Duterte's former economic adviser, Michael Yang.
Yang has been tagged by dismissed police official Eduardo Acierto as a drug lord allegedly in-charge of facilitating the entry of illegal drugs in the country.
Acierto in a press conference last March 31 admitted that he was in hiding after learning that there was an order to kill him in exchange of P15 million.
He showed documents and a drug matrix that linked Yang and his business partner, Allan Lim, in the illegal drug trade.
Based on the drug matrix, Yang is a member of the Johnson Chua drug syndicate led by a certain Johnson Co, who is based in mainland China but was recently monitored in Hong Kong and Macau.
It also showed Co having business partners allegedly running Chinese warehouses that are being used in illegal drug operations in Cagayan de Oro City and General Santos City.
Acierto said Yang, alias Dragon, and Lim are in-charge of facilitating the entry of illegal drugs in the country with the help of several officials in the Bureau of Customs.
He said he made a report on the matter and submitted it to Aquino, then PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa, and Police Deputy Director General Camilo Cascolan.
He said copies of the report were also sent to PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde, Senator Richard Gordon, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and former special assistant to the president Christopher “Bong” Go, hoping that it will reach Duterte.
In video, Acierto said Aquino, Dela Rosa, and Go were all protectors of Yang, since they did nothing despite receiving the report.
Aquino said, however, that Acierto's claim that he is Yang's protector is a "blatant lie."
“His accusation is completely baseless. I may say that this is the work of a desperate man,” Aquino said Tuesday, April 9.
“How can he say I am a protector when I initiated investigations on Michael Yang activities from Day 1 that I was told about it? In fact, until now, my regional directors are still gathering data about Michael Yang. I am clean. My conscience is clean. And I can appear in any avenues to clear my name on this matter,” he added.
Aquino said he is also open to any possible investigation in relation to Acierto’s claim.
The PDEA chief said earlier that Yang never appeared in their radar, but another Michael Yang, who is reportedly based in Pangasinan, not in Davao as claimed by Acierto, did. He said they are still tracking him.
Acierto was dismissed from police service along with former PNP chief Allan Purisima over the 1,004 missing AK-47s that have allegedly ended up in the hands of the communist New People’s Army.
He was also included in Duterte's list of police officials involved in illegal drugs. (SunStar Philippines)