Members of the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Wednesday expressed frustration at the seeming passiveness of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in seeking a freeze on the assets of Chinese nationals who had illegally acquired land and other properties in the country, including a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, which is under investigation since 2023 after the discovery of P3.6 billion worth of shabu there. 

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro repeatedly asked AMLC lawyer Erano Dumale about the delay in the filing of a freeze order on the assets of Empire 999 Realty Inc. and its five Chinese incorporators. She reminded him that the House had held separate inquiries since August 2023 into this case and others involving illegal drugs.

“I don’t believe we are responding on the nature of urgency, having waited for November this year, and we started the investigation in August last year,” Luistro told Dumale at the 12th hearing of the House quad committee that is looking into the connections among illegal drugs, extrajudicial killings and illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) during Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency.

Linking illegal drugs and illegal Pogos, the special panel initially took up the raid on Sept. 27, 2023, on the warehouse run by Empire 999.

According to a matrix titled “The Link Between Pogos and illegal Drugs” presented by Assistant Secretary Renato Gumban of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Willie Ong, a Chinese national also known as Cai Qimeng, owns 49% of Empire 999 and the warehouse where 560 kilos of shabu were found. 

Gumban said the raid on the warehouse was led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and coordinated with the PDEA, Bureau of Customs and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. 

He said the NBI had requested the PDEA to allow a “control delivery” of a suspicious shipment so the consignees could be identified. Only the PDEA head can order a control delivery, he added.

Gumban said the shipment was unloaded at the Subic Bay wharf and was to be taken to an office in Binondo, Manila. But the address could not be found, and the shipment ended up in the warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, where authorities eventually found it to contain illegal drugs.

‘Supposedly Filipino-owned’ 

Under questioning by Luistro, NBI lawyer Jonathan Galicia said Empire 999 was “supposedly a Filipino-owned corporation, but it turns out that all the incorporators are Chinese nationals.”

“[The incorporators] secured birth certificates which they falsified, according to the National Statistics Office,” Galicia said.

Luistro said that Empire 999 reportedly acquired 323 land holdings. Under her questioning, Land Registration Authority (LRA) lawyer Lorna Dee said Empire 999 started buying land in 2016 and it had in its name 30 land titles of which eight had been cancelled. 

Dee said these land holdings are in Mexico, Pampanga; Meycauayan, Bulacan; Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; Makati City and Taguig City in Metro Manila; and other places.  

Proceeding from this information, Luistro asked AMLC lawyer Dumale if a freeze order on the assets of the Empire 999 incorporators had been issued. 

“We have yet to issue a freeze order but we assure the committee we are conducting a meticulous investigation on the matter.” Dumale said, prompting Luistro to “lament” that the raid on the Empire 999 warehouse had been investigated by the House committee on public accounts since last year.

She recalled requesting the AMLC to secure the assets of the Chinese personalities because there was “sufficient basis” to believe “that money is involved in illegal activity.” 

‘Probable cause’ 

Dumale said that for the AMLC to seek a freeze order from the Court of Appeals (CA), there should be “probable cause that funds or properties are related to illegal activity.”

Pressed by Luistro anew on the delay in seeking the filing of a freeze order on the assets of Empire 999, Dumale said the AMLC was awaiting the filing of an unlawful-activity case in coordination with national agencies.

Luistro reminded Dumale that Empire 999 is owned by Chinese nationals and that it was able to procure land titles in various areas in the country. She asked him what unlawful activity the AMLC was still waiting for, and also cited falsification of public documents and illegal acquisition of land titles in the case.

Dumale replied: “As explained in previous hearings, it is the position of the AMLC that such acts are not among the unlawful activities of money laundering.” 

Luistro then asked what unlawful activities are under money laundering in the AMLC Law, and if violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act is among such offenses.

Dumale agreed that violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act is among the offenses under the law. He added: “We would like to apprise as well that as far as the investigation of AMLC is concerned, we are nearing the civil forfeiture [case] at least in the warehouse.” 

Luistro expressed “concern” over “the preservation of the assets of these persons of interest.”

Dumale said the CA freeze order is effective initially for 20 days and can be extended up to the maximum period of six months. 

‘Complex investigation’ 

On Luistro’s repeated demand for an explanation on the absence of a freeze order by the AMLC, Dumale said they were dealing with a “complex investigation.”

The lawmaker warned: “If we incur too much delay, we might find ourselves without control of and hold on assets that were illegally acquired.” 

Dumale replied: “We are meticulously conducting our investigation [into] each of the properties and probably bank accounts so we can recommend a bank freeze order so everything is in order and we have a strong case.”

Luistro wondered if the AMLC is not alarmed that while it is investigating, the LRA could have cancelled the land titles. “Can we ask the AMLC when they intend to file the freeze order?” she asked for the nth time.

Dumale then sought permission to approach Luistro to give information,” because we don’t want possible respondents to check our action.”

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chair of the House panel, agreed with Luistro’s concern over the delayed freeze order, pointing out that Empire 999 properties might be sold to another party. “We are all asking you to take immediate action … in order to prevent this from happening,” he said. 

Barbers pointed out that government officials accused of illegal acts find themselves with frozen bank accounts, and yet foreign nationals who bought land fraudulently and are found to have illegal drugs in their warehouse are not similarly penalized. 

“We understand the necessity of the action of the AMLC,” Dumale said, adding that they waited for the coordination of the NBI, “which filed a case in the third quarter of this year.”

Luistro eventually said she could “not understand why the AMLC seems to be passive, that instead of finding ways to be able to use this beautiful and responsive AMLC Law in all situations, [it is] trying to reject the possibility of using the same to secure the assets of the persons of interest.”

But she welcomed Dumale’s gesture to convey information about the AMLC action to her and Barbers in private.

Contempt citation

During the hearing, the quad committee cited in contempt Teddy Tumang, former mayor of Mexico, Pampanga.

Tumang initially denied personally knowing Willie Ong and Aedy Yang, another incorporator of Empire 999, on Luistro’s questioning. But he admitted that he did know them and met with them, on Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano’s own questioning.  

Paduano was angered by Tumang’s denial, and reminded him that he behaved similarly when the House committee on illegal drugs first investigated the Empire 999 warehouse raid last year and questioned him.

The lawmaker said Tumang went to Fujian, China, on Yang’s invitation. This was confirmed by Tumang, who said the China trip in 2016 was in connection with the plan of Chinese officials in Fujian to invest in a waste-to-energy project in Mexico, Pampanga, which never materialized.

Tumang was eventually ordered detained in the House premises until the quad committee terminates its inquiry. He later declined to answer more questions, saying he was feeling unwell.  

(The detention order was “conditionally” lifted by the quad committee on Wednesday night after Tumang apologized in a motion and said he would fully cooperate in the investigation. —ED.)

Said Luistro: “I wish to express that Mayor Tumang knowingly supported the illegal acquisition of land by Aedy T. Yang and Willie Ong under Empire 999 in Mexico, Pampanga. All the transfers of tax declaration, at the very least, are within the mayor’s knowledge. At least, we can consider Mayor Tumang a person of interest with respect to the violation of the Dangerous Drug Act.”

Paduano also confronted the ex-mayor’s brother, Alex Tumang, on the matter of the ownership of the land purchased by Empire 999, on which its warehouse is located. 

No information

Also at the hearing, Barbers and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro reprimanded the PDEA for coming up with the matrix that includes Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go in its linking of personalities in the illegal Pogos and the trade in illegal drugs. 

Castro had asked Gumban if Michael Yang, a friend and economic adviser of then President Rodrigo Duterte, had links to the illegal drug trade given his inclusion in the matrix.

Gumban said they have no such information on Yang.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante likewise asked Gumban why Go is in the matrix. 

Asked by Castro if Go is linked to illegal drugs because Alan Lin is allegedly involved, Gumban said that, per informants, Go and Lin are close friends. Gumban also said the PDEA is still investigating.

Castro told Gumban not to present a matrix that is “incriminating,” and to complete their investigation first. 

Gumban said the matrix title may be wrong. 

Barbers said that in submitting a matrix, the PDEA should ensure that “the information that you have gathered is enough and sufficient to be able to prove your point.”

“It’s hard to make an accusation [without] evidence,” he said.

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