Duterte aide’s brother faked Philippine identity for gun, Pogo

A photo of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte with his economic adviser Michael Yang (right of frame) is flashed during Tuesday’s Senate hearing that focused on Yang’s elder brother Tony (inset), the arrested Chinese national whose real name is Yang Jian Xin. —Richard A. Reyes

MANILA: A brother of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser on Tuesday (Sept 24) admitted to being a Chinese national who illegally acquired his Filipino citizenship to form several companies, including a steel manufacturing firm that allegedly hosted a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Misamis Oriental.

Testifying at the Senate committee hearing on crimes associated with Pogos, Yang Jian Xin, also known as Tony Yang, admitted that he was born in China, but was able to obtain a Philippine birth certificate through the problematic and graft-laden system of late registration of birth.