‘PROTECTOR’
FORMER Police Col. Eduardo Acierto has accused former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as a “protector” of suspected drug lords Michael Yang and Allan Lim, also known as Lin Weixiong.
Testifying via Zoom before the House Quad Comm hearing, Acierto said his team compiled an intelligence report detailing the alleged involvement of Yang, who once served as Duterte’s economic adviser, and Lim in the illegal drug trade.
Acierto confirmed that Yang and Lim were “close friends” of the former president, whom he shielded from accountability.
“Sigurado po ako dahil sa mga nangyari sa aking mga tauhan, prinotektahan niya si Michael Yang at si Allan Lim,” Acierto said during the interpellation by Manila Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., co-chair of the Quad Comm and chair of the House Committee on Human Rights.
Acierto was emotional when he mentioned the sad fate of his subordinates, Police Capt. Lito Perote and MSgt. Gerry Liwanag, who are missing and dead respectively.
Perote was abducted by armed men in bulletproof vests in Bacolod City in April 2019. He remains missing to this day, and Acierto believes he may have been killed.
Liwanag, meanwhile, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in San Jose del Monte City in February 2021.
According to Acierto Yang had operated drug laboratories in Mindanao since the early 2000s, including a clandestine shabu manufacturing hub in Dumoy, Davao City. This facility was raided by authorities on Dec. 31, 2004, yielding over 100 kilos of high-grade shabu with a street value exceeding P300 million.
Based on a drug matrix prepared by Acierto’s team, Yang is a member of the Johnson Chua drug syndicate led by a certain Johnson Co, who is based in mainland China.
Yang, alias “Dragon” due to a tattoo on his back, and Lim are allegedly in-charge of facilitating the entry of illegal drugs in the country through the help of several officials in the Bureau of Customs.
On the other hand, Acierto said Lim is behind the clandestine laboratory, which was raided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Cavite in July 2018.
Recovered from the laboratory were P10.4 billion worth of drugs and equipment for the manufacturing of illegal drugs.
Acierto said Lim was arrested during the operation but was later released due to technicality.
He said Yang also provided shipping documents for the entry of the illegal drugs recovered during a raid in a warehouse in Cagayan de Oro in 2005, which was operated by a certain Allan Sy.
Acierto said the matrix was among the reports he submitted to then Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, now Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, former PDEA Director Aaron Aquino, and Police Deputy Director General Camilo Cascolan. He also provided the report to Dela Rosa’s successor, former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde.
Unfortunately, Acierto said his report was ignored. He expressed disappointment that Dela Rosa never addressed his report and instead met with Lim.
Acierto said he felt betrayed, as soon after submitting the report, he was accused by Duterte of being involved in illegal drugs.
In October 2018, Duterte publicly named Acierto as one of the police officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs.
Acierto was later implicated in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of drugs concealed in magnetic lifters, which were found at the Manila International Container Port and in a warehouse in Cavite in 2018. He has been in hiding since 2019.
