(Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima has filed a resolution calling for a probe into Michael Yang’s alleged drug links.
In filing Senate Resolution No. 1033, De Lima said the Senate should look into whether or not Yang’s position as economic adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte was abused for personal benefit and had an impact on national security and welfare, appearing to assume the allegations hurled against Yang by dismissed Colonel Eduardo Acierto were true.
“A comprehensive probe into Mr. Yang’s alleged link to the illegal drug trade is imperative as accountability must be sought given his official, high-level capacity as a former presidential economic adviser,” De Lima said.
According to De Lima, there was also a need to “inquire into and demand concrete explanation into the citizenship of presidential appointees” such as Yang “with the nature and scope of his work and influence over foreign and economic policy, as public office held by a foreign national is inimical to national security, public interest and welfare.”
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly cleared Yang of any involvement, and has blasted Acierto, whom he called a corrupt policeman.
Acierto, who has gone into hiding since October last year after he was linked to the shabu shipment allegedly found in magnetic lifters, was dismissed from the police service for his role in the sale of AK-47 rifles to New People’s Army rebels.
Duterte also linked Acierto to the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo in 2016, but Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde said this link had not been established.
