Yang Jian Xin aka Tony Yang (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
MANILA – Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla said Wednesday the government would file possible criminal charges against businessman Tony Yang instead of immediately deporting him.
In an interview with reporters, Remulla said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 10 (Northern Mindanao) is studying preliminary charges of falsification and illegal use of alias against Yang, whose real name is Yang Jian Xin.
"Ang pinaka-convenient talaga deport e. I-drop lahat ng cases (The most convenient [thing to do] is to deport him and drop all cases). But what can it solve? It cannot solve anything. Kailangan talaga malaman natin hanggang saan ‘yan, tsaka paparusahan talaga (We have to know everything first and punish him),” he said.
“It has to go with punishment para hindi na maulit (so it would not be repeated). Deterrence can only be achieved with the certainty of punishment."
Yang, who also goes by the name Antonio Lim, is the brother of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.
He has been linked to the illegal online gaming facility allegedly owned by dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.
He was apprehended at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sept. 19 by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), with assistance from the Bureau of Immigration and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for alleged ties to varrious illegal activities. (PNA)
