Probe sought on Chinese remittances to Cale88

MANILA, Philippines — Reports that Chinese firms remitted P319 million to a company linked to Manases Carpio, Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, warrant a “full-blown national security investigation,” according to Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, lead prosecutor of the House of Representatives.

Luistro made the remark after an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report exposed remittances from China to Cale88 Foods Corp., a firm linked to Carpio, who held a substantial 47.5 percent stake.

“I honestly believe this is something that should be looked into and investigated, especially since the National Security Council had acknowledged the sensitivity of this issue concerning all Filipinos who have remittances from China,” she explained.

Luistro was referring to financial records presented during Duterte’s impeachment trial showing that Cale88 Foods Corp. received P319.33 million in remittances from mainland China and Hong Kong.

AMLC executive director lawyer Ronel Buenaventura confirmed the transactions in the Senate impeachment court during his testimony last Oct. 5, based on covered and suspicious transaction reports submitted by banks and financial institutions.

The AMLC records showed that P319.33 million went into Cale88’s corporate accounts, not directly into the personal accounts of Duterte or Carpio.

“Money from China poured into a food manufacturing company of her (Duterte’s) husband,” private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia said, as she conducted a direct examination on the AMLC executive.

“Their companies moved billions more,” Divinagracia said further. The prosecutor stated that from 2022 to 2025, nearly P4.5 billion was recorded as entering and leaving 15 corporations in which Duterte and Carpio allegedly had business interests.

In her offer of testimony, she told the court that Cale88 Foods Corp. was established in 2021 and that Carpio, Duterte’s husband, holds 47.5 percent of its shares. The prosecutor said three of the remittances had been reported by a bank as suspicious.

Luistro said the transactions should be examined against the backdrop of continuing tensions between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea.

The NSC earlier announced that it would examine the reported foreign financial inflows and coordinate with intelligence and investigative agencies to determine whether they posed national security risks.

The allegation linking Vice President Duterte to Chinese funds is “a threat at the highest level to the Republic,” President Marcos said yesterday, as he denied involvement in supposed efforts to besmirch her name.

“That now rises to a national security issue if true. If it is true, it is a national security issue. That’s why the DND (Department of National Defense) responded and they said, we have to look into this. That’s right. That’s part of their duty because national security is involved if it is true,” the President said.

“Nothing would make me happier than proof that it is not true. Then it’s one less thing that I have to worry about. But if it is true, it is a threat at the highest level to the Republic.”

Meanwhile, Carpio maintained the credit card expenses discussed during the impeachment trial were personal expenditures paid for with his own money, insisting the Vice President had no involvement in the transactions and no public funds were used. — Alexis Romero