MANILA – Rodrigo Duterte was consulting with a Chinese businessman, Malacañang admitted Tuesday, contrary to the President’s denial.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Department of Justice secretary Menardo Guevarra appointed Michael Yang as Duterte’s adviser on economic affairs, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told a press briefing at the Palace.
“Michael Yang is just one of those advisers that the President consults on a particular matter. He just receives P1 per year (for his job),” Panelo said.
“He (Yang) is a wealthy man, he has risen from poor origins. Because he is Chinese, he knows a lot of people from the Chinese government,” Panelo added. “He can be appointed (even if he is a Chinese national) if it is only a consultant.”
Guevarra, in a statement, affirmed Panelo’s statement, saying Yang can only be appointed to a position with a “purely advisory function.”
News website Rappler reported on Monday, citing documents, that Yang was appointed twice as “Economic Adviser to the President” – first from Jan. 1 to June 30, and then from July 1 to Dec. 31.
The appointment of Yang, a businessman based in Davao City, surfaced last month after he was seen using business cards with Malacañang seal.
Sen. Leila de Lima sought a Senate investigation into the appointment of Yang but Duterte, in a speech on Oct. 9, denied appointing Yang as economic adviser because the latter was a Chinese citizen.
Yang has previously been tagged to the illegal drug trade but Duterte said this was impossible, considering the former’s close ties with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jinhua and Chinese Premier Le Kequiang./PN
