Since the news of the kidnapping and murder of Filipino-Chinese steel tycoon Anson Tan (Anson Que) was exposed, many netizens on social platforms like "Filipino-Chinese Bar" have commented, "This was an inside job!" Although initially there was no concrete evidence to support this speculation, the exposure of the suspect's identity on April 19, 2025, has increasingly indicated that one of the main suspects, Mr. Liao (David Tan Liao), indeed had a close relationship with Anson Tan.
According to the police, Mr. Liao has multiple aliases, including "Xiao Changjiang," "Yang Jianmin," and "Michael Agad Yung," and is a Chinese national who has been active in the Filipino-Chinese community for a long time.
Earlier reports "At least five Chinese victims of online gambling were killed in the Anson Tan kidnapping case, with two Chinese kidnappers still at large" and "Chinese suspect in the Anson Tan kidnapping case surrenders, with two other Filipino accomplices arrested in Palawan" have indicated that Mr. Liao is not only involved in the Tan case but is also suspected of participating in several similar kidnapping cases, with professional methods and a complex gang background.
More notably, some old community activity records show that Mr. Liao (then using the name "Yang Jianmin") and Anson Tan had attended Filipino-Chinese community meetings together.
For example, a Chinese media in the Philippines reported on August 30, 2024, "Some Development Promotion Association held a meeting to discuss several important plans and reached a consensus," mentioning that on the evening of August 26, 2024, the association held an executive meeting attended by "Eternal Honorary President Anson Tan" and "Executive Vice President Yang Jianmin," who had participated in the meeting side by side and interacted harmoniously.
Additionally, another report titled "New Term Inauguration of Some Promotion Association" mentioned that another honorary president of the society had appeared in mainstream media in the Philippines. According to sources from the Chinese community, Yang Jianmin (Mr. Liao) was elected as the chairman of the "Filipino-Chinese Dragon Sons Association" in December 2024 and officially took office in January 2025.
These records show that the suspect Mr. Liao is not only a familiar figure in the community known to Anson Tan, but the two may have had multiple contacts in both public and private settings. This might confirm the early speculation by some netizens at the beginning of the case exposure that it was an "inside job."
The case is still under further investigation. The police have confirmed that Mr. Liao did not act alone and is connected to an underground network related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). As the case gradually becomes clearer, whether there are higher-level planners behind the scenes and the true depth of the relationship between the suspect and the victim remains to be revealed.
