Former Police Col. Eduardo Acierto on Thursday claimed former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte is a “protector” of his former economic adviser and suspected drug lord Michael Yang.
Acierto testified before the House of Representatives Quad Committee that Yang and Allan Lim (also known as Lin Weixiong) were Duterte’s close friends, whom he shielded from accountability.
“I am certain because of what happened to my people, Duterte protected Michael Yang and Allan Lim,” Acierto said in Filipino during the interpellation by Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., co-chair of the Quad Comm and chair of the House Committee on Human Rights.
This was in reference to his subordinates, Police Capt. Lito Perote and MSgt. Gerry Liwanag. The former remains missing after being abducted by armed men in Bacolod City in April 2019, while Liwanag was shot dead by unidentified assailants in San Jose del Monte City in February 2021.
Back in 2017, Acierto and his team compiled an intelligence report detailing Yang and Lim’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Acierto stated in the report that Yang had operated drug laboratories in Mindanao since the early 2000s. These include a shabu manufacturing hub in Davao City that was raided by authorities in December 2004, yielding over 100 kilos of high-grade shabu with a street value exceeding P300 million.
Acierto’s team then prepared a drug matrix showing that Yang is a member of the Johnson Chua drug syndicate led by a certain Johnson Co, who is based in mainland China.
The former police colonel said the matrix was among the reports he submitted to then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino, and Police Deputy Director General Camilo Cascolan. He also provided the report to Dela Rosa’s successor, former PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde.
“They did not do anything. They let the report go to waste…It got to the point where the report could not be disputed, so it was my team and I who were maligned,” Acierto said.
“I submitted the report to Dela Rosa, who did not act on it. Instead, it was Allan Lim whom he talked to,” he added, recalling that he was accused by Duterte in October 2018 of being one of the police officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs himself soon after submitting the report.
