By Brian Campued
The Chinese national arrested by Immigration authorities in Cagayan de Oro City last week has possible links to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and known POGO personality Tony Yang, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Wednesday.
Citing information from BI’s Mindanao Intelligence Task Group head Melody Penelope Gonzales, Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado disclosed that Chinese national Xu Shiyan is an incorporator of the Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corporation (Phil-Sanjia), which was investigated in 2024 for alleged POGO links.
Xu, 38, was apprehended last May 21 for misrepresenting himself as a Filipino citizen. This was proven by his Chinese passport listing Guangdong, China as his place of birth, contrary to the Philippine birth certificate he presented.
Aside from a birth certificate, authorities also seized from the Chinese national multiple Philippine documents, including Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) slips, Social Security System (SSS) forms, Unified Multi-purpose ID (UMID) forms, Postal ID, TIN ID, driver’s license, and a Commission on Elections (Comelec) registration slip, all bearing his details.
The BI added that among the incorporators of Phil-Sanjia is a certain “Antonio Lim,” the alleged alias of Tony Yang, who was previously investigated by the Senate and House of Representatives for his involvement in POGOs in the Philippines.
Tony Yang, the brother of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser Michael Yang, was arrested by Immigration authorities last year for allegedly misrepresenting himself as Filipino.
Viado reiterated the BI’s commitment to intensifying the crackdown on illegal offshore gaming operations and foreign nationals engaged in criminal activities as directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
“We will not allow foreign nationals to abuse our systems, falsify their identities, and use Philippine documents to cover their tracks.”
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