Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday sought clarification on the appointment of Michael Yang, who has been implicated in the illicit drug trade, as one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s consultants.
“For myself, I want to know if he has been appointed formally,” Sotto said at the “Kapihan sa Cafe Adriatico.”
READ: Chinese national one of Duterte’s advisers—Palace
But he said there was no prohibition on the Executive department to answer the matter because “they appointed him.”
“His association with who or what, I am not familiar,” Sotto said.
He said the appointment of consultants was among the discretionary powers of the President.
“If he is a consultant because of his knowledge of some matters, that is really a prerogative of the Executive department,” Sotto said.
He cited an instance when a local government unit hired a jueteng kingpin to address the issue of Small Town Lotteries.
Told that Yang had signed a contract with the Philippine government, which covered the period January to June 2018 and July to December 2018, Sotto said it might appear that the President did not know about it since he was not a signatory to the contract.
The contract reportedly was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party expressed alarm over Malacañang’s confirmation that Yang, a Chinese national, held the position of Economic Adviser to the President.
“Michael Yang was previously linked to illegal drugs,” the Liberal Party said in a statement.
“Despite the President personally clearing him of said accusations by virtue of being associates in Davao and by citing Yang’s close relations to the Chinese Ambassador, we still find it disconcerting that he was linked to illegal drugs in the first place.
“We call on the Palace to be transparent about Michael Yang’s involvement in presidential decisions, particularly on economic matters. We urge the Palace to clarify the extent to which Michael Yang is allowed access to information sensitive to the interests of the state.”