Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. has launched a sharp rebuke against the Chinese Embassy in Manila regarding its defense of Chinese citizens facing criminal charges in the Philippines, singles out figures like businessman Tony Yang.
Teodoro asserted that the foreign mission faces a daunting responsibility managing cases involving its citizens who flout local legislation.
“The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has their work cut out for them with Chinese nationals like Tony Yang, Alice Leal Guo aka Gou Huaping and others who defy the laws of the country they are currently in,” Teodoro said.
Yang—who also operates under the pseudonyms Yang Jianxin and Antonio Maestrado Lim—remains in custody while confronting multiple criminal indictments alongside a pending deportation case before the Bureau of Immigration.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) previously slapped Yang with three counts each of document falsification and perjury, as well as Anti-Alias Law infractions, alleging he employed fake identities to establish enterprises like Oroone Inc. and Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation in Cagayan de Oro City.
Yang has also been connected to a former Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Cagayan de Oro. During a 2024 Senate hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros linked him as the primary owner of Oroone Inc., a registered POGO service provider—a claim Yang refuted by asserting he was merely acting as a dummy.
Furthermore, Teodoro highlighted Yang’s leadership as former president of Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation, whose Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental plant was shut down following a May law enforcement raid that intercepted hazardous materials and detained 69 Chinese employees.
The joint operation sparked backlash from the Chinese Embassy, which challenged Teodoro’s involvement and questioned the military’s role in civil enforcement.
In an August 16 statement, embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng dismissed Teodoro’s accusations as “completely unfounded,” asserting Beijing’s opposition to selective law enforcement against its citizens and defending its right to extend consular protection.
Teodoro countered that the embassy’s actions cross the line from standard consular aid to actively shielding criminal suspects.
“The Chinese Embassy is now a PR firm for Tony Yang and other illegal activities in this country which are apparently their clients,” Teodoro said.
The defense chief emphasized that Yang himself admitted during Senate testimony to being born in Fujian, China, in 1970, entering the Philippines around 1998, and acquiring a fraudulent Philippine birth certificate in 2004 at age 34.
The dispute reflects escalating tension between Manila and Beijing. While the embassy accuses Philippine authorities of discriminatory targeting, local agencies maintain that enforcement is strictly based on legal violations.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) clarified that the Sanjia Steel probe addresses corporate and executive liability through proper legal channels, rather than singling out workers based on nationality.