- Rody’s son-in-law, adviser also tagged by ex-Customs agent
- Barbers: Chinese syndicate bought land to launder drug money
Former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban on Friday implicated three people related to former President Rodrigo Duterte – his son Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, his son-in-law, Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio, and his former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang – in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters discovered at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
Guban revealed this information in his affidavit and testimony before the House of Representatives quad committee investigating alleged links between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), the illegal drug trade and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) tied to the Duterte administration’s “war on drugs.”
Guban, who is currently detained at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, was brought to Bacolor, Pampanga where the quad-committee held its first joint public hearing.
He said a lower-ranked Customs officer told him not to be afraid of the incoming shabu shipment in 2018.
“I was told: Don’t be afraid because the shipment belongs to Mans Carpio, Pulong Duterte, and Michael Yang,” Guban said.
Paolo Duterte said he does not know Guban, nor did he have any transaction or relationship with the former Customs agent.
“I want to remind the public that the word ‘star witness’ can only be accorded to a person who is telling the truth and has credibility. That person is not Jimmy Guban because he was previously cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for lying,” he said in a statement.
“It is clear he has no credibility and his statements have no basis, that is why I am not sure why he suddenly became a star witness. I also want to see his sworn affidavit so we can study it with my lawyer,” the younger Duterte said.
Yang’s lawyer, Raymond Fortun, also dismissed Guban’s statements as “hearsay in nature.”
“Mr. Guban had made statements under oath in the past which are contradictory to what he is saying now. The Supreme Court has looked with disfavor upon retractions of testimonies previously given in court,” Fortun said.
“Mr. Yang’s name does not appear in any of the shipping documents, nor is he the consignee. By law, he is not the owner of the shipment,” he added.
Guban admitted that during the hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, he refrained from naming Paolo Duterte, Carpio and Yang due to threats against his family.
In his affidavit, Guban said Davao City councilor Nilo “Small” Abellera Jr. introduced him to the smuggling operation in early 2017.
He said Abellera described himself as the “business partner and trusted man” of Rep. Duterte, Carpio and Yang, whom he described during the hearing as “a big-time importer of drugs.”
“As their business partner and trusted man, (Small) was tasked to facilitate the release of shipments from the Bureau of Customs,” he said.
Yang is currently the subject of an arrest and detention order issued by the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs after being cited in contempt for repeatedly refusing to attend hearings related to his alleged involvement in a P3.6-billion drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga last year.
He quoted Abellera as saying: “Go easy on these shipments. You know they are from Michael Yang, Pulong and Mans.”
Guban told the quad committees the listed owners of Vecaba Trading, the consignee of the said P11 billion illegal drug shipment, were dummies of a certain Poney Chen and Emily Luquingan., both residents of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
As this developed, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Friday said a big-time Chinese drug syndicate has been able to acquire thousands of hectares of land in Pampanga and “across the country.”
Barbers, who chairs the committee on dangerous drugs, said the syndicate is composed of “several Chinese nationals masquerading as Filipinos.”
“Land acquisition is one of the ways that they launder their drug funds,” he said.
Barbers said part of the drug haul of the syndicate was the P3.6-billion worth of shabu seized by the authorities in Mexico town in Pampanga in September 2023.
He said some Chinese nationals involved, including Yang, were incorporators of several interlocking companies that owned the warehouse where the shabu shipment was confiscated.
Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, who chairs the committee on public order and safety, said the Chinese drug syndicate also used their illegal drug proceeds in bribing government officials and personnel in obtaining Filipino identity documents like passports and birth certificates.
“They bribe government functionaries, from the barangay level up to national agencies,” he said.
The quad committee also issued yesterday show cause orders to several individuals, including Alberto Rodulfo Dela Serna, the executive assistant of Duterte’s former presidential spokesperson, Harry Roque.
Dela Serna was among those who failed to appear at Friday’s hearing. Roque was also absent, citing a scheduled appearance at the Manila Regional Trial Court as his reason.
The quad-committee subsequently directed the Secretariat to verify his claim by coordinating with the RTC. If Roque was not present at the court hearing, a show cause order will also be issued against him.
Acting Mayor Eraño Timbang and various department heads from Bamban, Tarlac, as well as officials from Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. such as Thelma B. Laranan and Yu Zheng Can were among those who were summoned.
Incorporators of Baofu Land Corporation, including dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo and Bernard Chua were also named in the show cause orders.
