NBI probes links of businessman Jaime T. Cruz to Duterte family

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation is investigating businessman Jaime T. Cruz’s links to companies associated with Vice President Sara Duterte and her brothers, as well as properties they declared that may be worth far more than their reported values.

At a press conference on Monday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said the bureau was examining corporate records linking Cruz, a former special envoy to China for trade and investments under then President Rodrigo Duterte, to businesses associated with the Vice President, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.

The investigation comes amid scrutiny of the Duterte family’s declared wealth and allegations that Cale88 Food Corp., a company linked to Sara’s husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, received P319.32 million in remittances from Chinese entities.

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Matibag said the NBI was separately investigating the alleged foreign financial support to Cale88 because of its potential national security implications.

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READ: Hontiveros: China ‘state firms’ among Cale88 funders

“What is telling here is there is a Chinese personality here, in the name of Ang Hai Peng, who suddenly disappeared,” Matibag said, presenting a diagram of Cruz’s connections to Duterte-linked businesses.

“He was there in 2013, then suddenly disappeared. There is no trace. So again, we are looking into it,” he added.

Matibag said the connections were based on the Duterte family’s declarations and corporate records. He also cited documents indicating a relationship between Cruz and Baste, who had said he knew nothing about the matter.

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‘Agri land’

Cruz was identified during the Vice President’s impeachment trial as an incorporator of several companies in which she declared shareholdings. These include City Hall King Chow Foods Corp., Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Great Jolly Times Foods Corp., Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corp., Davao Emerging Taipans Corp., and Davao Bounty Times Foods Corp.

The prosecution’s plan to summon Cruz as a witness in its case alleging unexplained wealth against Sara did not push through.Matibag said the NBI was also investigating properties linked to Sara and Paolo after an initial field inspection in Davao City found land declared at about P890,000 that he said could be worth P50 million to P60 million.

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The property in Catigan, Davao City, was declared agricultural land, but NBI agents found what appeared to be a resort, with improvements that Matibag said were not reflected in the declaration.

“It was declared as agricultural land, but even the neighbors—people from Davao themselves—identified it as the Dutertes’ property,” he said.

Matibag said the bureau consulted an assessor to estimate its value.

“The discrepancies are significant. In Catigan alone, the declared value is only P890,000, but upon consulting an assessor, it is around P60 million,” he said.

Paolo challenged Matibag to present evidence that he owns a property on Samal Island as he warned against publicizing unverified allegations.

“The NBI is an investigative institution, not a platform for trial by publicity,” the Davao lawmaker said in a Facebook post, adding that Matibag should know the difference between a photograph and proof of ownership.

Paolo also questioned Matibag’s credibility, saying allegations of corruption involving the NBI chief had raised concerns for his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte. He urged Matibag to apply the same standards of transparency to reported ghost projects in his wife’s congressional district in Laguna, stressing that “accountability, after all, should not depend on whose name is being mentioned.”

The NBI is examining 24 properties belonging to Sara as part of a broader review of 121 properties attributed to the Duterte family in Davao City and Davao del Norte province, Matibag said.

Money trail

Matibag said investigators were checking whether money had been converted into real estate, following allegations in an affidavit by former police officer Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. that he delivered suitcases of cash to Duterte family members from 2018 to 2020.

“We are investigating this because we are following the pattern established in the Gracioso affidavit—meaning there was money, where was the money placed?” Matibag said.

The bureau would refer its initial findings to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman, he added.

Gracioso, a former aide to then Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, alleged that he delivered more than P2 billion to Sara, P1 billion to Rodrigo Duterte and P100 million to Paolo in installments on Velasco’s instructions. The allegations have not been established as fact.

Paolo denied receiving suitcases of cash and challenged the NBI’s authority to investigate.

His lawyer, Peter Paul Danao, said on Monday he had submitted an affidavit on the congressman’s behalf denying the accusations while preserving his legal objections to the bureau’s jurisdiction.

Danao called Gracioso’s claims “fairy tale concoctions” and said the filing of an affidavit ad cautelam, or a precautionary sworn statement, did not mean Paolo had conceded the NBI’s authority to proceed.

He urged investigators to conduct an independent and impartial inquiry free from political pressure.

VP slams Marcos

Sara criticized President Marcos’ warning that allegations of Chinese entities funding a company linked to her husband could pose a threat to the country “at the highest level” if proven true.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Office of the Vice President’s 91st anniversary celebration, Sara said the remarks suggested that the Marcos administration had considered her a threat since 2023.

“It’s like he is saying that those engaged in business or trade with China are also a threat to the country,” she said, noting that many Philippine businesses import from or export to China.

Marcos made the remarks during a work visit to Singapore on Sunday, saying the allegations were being thoroughly investigated and that he would welcome evidence disproving them. 

P319M in remittances

During Sara’s impeachment trial, Sen. Risa Hontiveros cited records showing that companies remitted P319.32 million to Cale88. Carpio was identified as the company’s incorporator, stockholder and board member.

Hontiveros said open-source research by her office identified China National Township Enterprises and Beijing ZhenweiFang Food Company as having ties to the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party organizations.

Anti-Money Laundering Council Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified that the money went to Cale88, not directly to Sara or Carpio. He said it had not been established that the funds came from the Chinese government and that the transactions did not prove illegal wealth or cash holdings directly tied to the couple.

Matibag said the NBI had established a unit to investigate foreign malign influence and would examine the transactions.

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“The President is right here that the money coming from a foreign entity, especially coming from a country not so friendly with the Philippines, we need to investigate because there is an issue of national security,” he said. —With reports from Dianne Sampang and Kenneth Christiane Basilio