NBI source shows photos of US state senator’s 2012 visit to PHL

A source from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has released to GMA News photos of California state senator Leland Yee visiting Mindanao in 2012.

Yee was arrested by the US authorities on March 26 on charges of corruption and alleged conspiracy to smuggle and trade in firearms from the Philippines, specifically from Mindanao.

In the photos, Yee was shown with a certain doctor named Wilson Lim.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) affidavit on Yee states that Lim is a former resident of Mindanao now residing in Daly City, California. It named Lim as the one allegedly communicating with a Philippine military captain regarding the high-powered firearms to be smuggled to the US.



In an interview aired on GMA News' “24 Oras Weekend” Sunday evening, attorney David Warren Lim, who identified himself as Lim's nephew, confirmed that Yee visited Mindanao in 2012, but that was to distribute dialysis machines to local hospitals and health centers.

He said his uncle was with Yee during the visit since the former was the one who arranged the state lawmaker's security. He maintained there was no discussion that transpired between the two about smuggling guns to the US.

However, a source from the NBI told GMA News that if it was an official visit, Yee should have coordinated with the US Embassy in the Philippines.

The NBI is currently conducting its own investigation into the matter. It is also investigating the alleged involvement of a captain from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the case.

Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala had earlier said that the AFP will conduct its own investigation on the alleged involvement of one of its officers in the gun-smuggling case. Zagala, however, stressed that the guns could not have come from the military arsenal. — Elizabeth Marcelo/BM, GMA News