Former “Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up” housemate Carol Batay reacted after being recognized in a Senate hearing where Michael Yang‘s brother appeared as a resource person on Tuesday.
The former TV personality, who now works as an events and TV host, reposted a TikTok clip featuring her acting as a Chinese translator for Tony Yang who is said to be the “true architect” of the Yang operations.
He is also known as Yang Jianxin.
Tony is the elder brother of Michael, who served as former president Rodrigo Duterte‘s economic adviser.
The TikTok clip praised Carol’s efforts to interpret Chinese during the Senate’s hearing on illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), where lawmakers tried to establish his potential links to the POGO network that served as a front for illegal activities.
“Today’s hearing MVP. Kudos to Ms. Carolyn!” the TikTok user wrote. “MVP” is short for “Most Valuable Player.”
The former PBB housemate saw the comment and responded, “It’s my pleasure.” She accompanied her Instagram Story with emojis of folded hands and a flushed face.
Reports said Carol acted as a Chinese interpreter for Tony who claimed to be a non-speaker of Filipino, Bisaya and English.
Carol’s English translations of Tony’s comments helped the lawmakers communicate with him as the Senate entered the final moments of its investigation on POGOs.
The former PBB housemate initially appeared in the Senate hearings last May, when she interpreted Fookien sentences of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping).
She expressed her gratitude to Hontiveros’ office for trusting her to do a live language interpretation.
“From TV shows, to international events, to Senate hearings. Finally making it here. Thank you, Lord, you never fail to amaze me,” Carol wrote in another post on May 22.
Carol joined the “Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up” edition in 2009, where she was housemates with comedians Melai Cantiveros and Jason Francisco.
Other housemates included Tom Rodriguez and Sam Pinto.
Carol said she belongs to the third generation of Chinese people who migrated to the Philippines, where she was born and raised. She added that she got “75%” of her DNA from the Chinese.
After her eviction from the reality show, Carol later became an events host, a language instructor and a Chinese interpreter.
The hearing
Tony, a Chinese national who admitted to faking a birth certificate, was arrested on September 19 after being classified as an undesirable alien.
He also said he used his fake Filipino citizenship to obtain lands and corporations in the country.
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros described their family business as a “massive crime syndicate,” adding that Tony is “wanted in China for financial scamming.”
She also bared allegations that Tony is the president of a service provider for a POGO hub linked to Pharmally executive Lin Weixion (or Alan Lim).
Pharmally was embroiled in a controversy involving alleged anomalous COVID-19 supplies procured during the Duterte administration.
Hontiveros also said Tony has a joint account with Hongsheng incorporator Yu Zheng Can and supposedly had direct transactions with Guo’s Baofu Land Development Inc., the company that leased the property in Bamban, Tarlac, to POGOs.