AMLC flags Cale88; prosecution bares Duterte’s 30 bank accounts

PASAY CITY — A food company owned by lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, could be considered a “candidate” for money laundering, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura told the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday.

On the same day, the prosecution told the court that Duterte and Carpio maintained at least 30 accounts across eight banks, with more than PHP 190 million allegedly left undeclared in her sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs).

Both developments came on Day 34 of Duterte’s impeachment trial, as the prosecution pressed its case on the allegations of unexplained wealth under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

Buenaventura’s assessment concerned large discrepancies between the financial capacity of Cale88 Foods Corp. and the hundreds of millions of pesos that flowed through its accounts.

The exchange came during an interjection by Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, who cited AMLC findings that Cale88 logged an inflow of PHP 776 million and an outflow of PHP 154 million despite having a paid-up capital of only PHP 125,000.

Gatchalian pointed out that the company’s available balance sheets could not account for the PHP 776 million.

He noted that Cale88’s cumulative sales since 2021 amounted to just PHP 23 million, alongside assets of PHP 18 million and liabilities of PHP 20 million.

“Kasi kung hindi mahanap sa libro yung P776 million, candidate ba itong Cale88 for money laundering?” Gatchalian asked Buenaventura.

“In your expert opinion and yung mga experience mo?” he added.

“As starting point, maari po, maari lang po,” Buenaventura responded.

“But I have to consider all other factors po, Your Honor,” he said.

Buenaventura explained that in any money laundering investigation, authorities must identify an underlying unlawful activity, such as kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, or graft, to prove that the transactions involved proceeds of illegal activity.

Kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, and graft and corruption are among the “unlawful activities” listed under Republic Act No. 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended.

Gatchalian also said that about half of Cale88’s sales came from China, and he asked whether investigators would verify the legitimacy of the foreign entities involved.

Buenaventura responded that all related factors are scrutinized in the normal course of an investigation.

The AMLC has flagged PHP 319 million in remittances to Cale88 from China and Hong Kong, which form part of PHP 4.4 billion in transactions into accounts and companies of Duterte and Carpio that the agency found suspicious.

The prosecution also began presenting witnesses from the eight banks where the couple held accounts, some of which are among the country’s biggest.

“The Vice President, together with her husband, personally maintains at least 30 active bank accounts across eight banks, among others, just for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025,” private prosecutor James Ibrahim Ali told the court as he made a common offer for the testimonies of the prosecution’s witnesses.

Ali said the prosecution summoned representatives from Land Bank of the Philippines, Asia United Bank (AUB), Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), Metrobank, Security Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Philippine National Bank (PNB), and Banco de Oro (BDO) to verify and authenticate bank records produced under court subpoena.

Ali said the accounts of Duterte and Carpio in these banks totaled more than PHP 59 million in 2022, PHP 71 million in 2023, PHP 22 million in 2024, and PHP 35 million at year-end.

“When taken together across the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, the Vice President and her husband, Atty. Carpio’s bank accounts have a total ending balance of more than P190 million that are not declared in her SALNs,” Ali said.

“Mga numero lamang po ito,” Ali declared.

“Hindi nagbabago ang mga numero dahil sa politika o sa paulit-ulit na objeksyon,” he said.

“Kung tama at nagtugma ang lahat, wala namang dapat ikatakot.”

He continued, “Ipakita lang ng buong-buo at hayaan ang mga dokumento at ebidensya ang magsalita.”

“At kung hindi nagtutugma, hindi na kailangang manakot gamit ang prosekusyon, media,” Ali said.

“Magpaliwanag na lamang.”

The bank witnesses build on the testimonies of earlier witnesses before the impeachment court.

Article XI, Section 17 of the Constitution requires public officials and employees to declare their assets, liabilities, and net worth under oath upon taking office and as often as the law requires.

Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, requires government officials and employees to declare their real estate, personal property, investments, cash, stocks, bonds, and other assets, along with their liabilities.

The law also requires the declaration to cover the assets and liabilities of the official’s spouse and unmarried children under 18 living in the household.

Gatchalian sits as a senator-judge in the trial, since Sen. Francis Escudero was elected presiding officer of the impeachment court in a 12-8 vote when the trial opened on July 6.

Duterte has denied wrongdoing and has called the impeachment case politically motivated.

A conviction requires the votes of at least 16 of the 24 senators.