House lifts contempt, detention orders vs Tony Yang, Alice Guo, Cassandra Ong
MANILA, Philippines — The House Quad Committee, concluding its hearings for the year, lifted the contempt orders against three key individuals involved in the investigation into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
During the mega panel’s 13th hearing on Thursday, December 12, Rep. Joseph “Caraps” Paduano (Abang Lingkod Partylist) moved to lift the contempt and detention orders the committee issued against the following resource persons:
- Chinese businessman Tony Yang or “Yang Jianxin”
- Lucky South 99 authorized representative Cassandra Ong
- Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo or “Guo Hua Ping”
In Yang's case, the committee took into account that he is in the custody of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and faces a pending case for falsifying documents, perjury, and violations of the Anti-Alias Law.
Paduano added that Yang submitted a medical certificate stating he is currently ill and confined at St. Luke's Hospital in Taguig City.
Ong was also reportedly sick while currently detained at the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City. She is also facing non-bailable human trafficking charges for her alleged involvement in illegal POGOs in Porac, Pampanga.
According to Paduano, both the CIW and House physicians keeping tabs on Ong’s condition said she is “not fit to attend and withstand the congressional hearings.”
Like Yang and Ong, Guo is also detained by virtue of a court order and facing criminal cases for suspected ties in illegal POGO operations.
The committee approved the motion to lift their contempt and detention orders for these reasons.
What to know about them
Yang, the brother of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser Michael Yang, has been implicated alongside his brother in the Pharmally procurement scandal and other alleged criminal activities tied to POGO operations.
Meanwhile, Ong is an incorporator of real estate firm WhirlWind Corp, which leased land to Lucky South 99, a POGO in Porac, Pampanga. Lucky South 99 was raided and shut down over reports of torture, kidnapping, illegal drugs, prostitution and scams.
Guo and her family also own several businesses in the country, including Baofu Land, which was allegedly involved in the illegal operations of Zun Yuan Technology Inc., a POGO hub in Bamban raided for human trafficking.
Ong and Guo are connected through Wesley Guo, the dismissed mayor's purported brother, who was also said to be in a relationship with Ong.
The authenticity of Tony Yang's and Alice Guo's Philippine birth certificates was also under scrutiny. This followed revelations of Chinese nationals using fraudulent birth certificates to conceal their identities, acquire land, and operate businesses in the country.
The House Quad Committee and the Senate investigated their connections to illegal POGOs and other unlawful activities in the country.
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