UNDECLARED MILLIONS: Alleged hidden wealth of Duterte couple hits PHP 817 million, prosecution witness says

The combined alleged undeclared assets and unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, have reached nearly PHP 1 billion, according to an analysis by veteran financial expert Alexander “Alex” B. Cabrera that prosecutors presented Friday before the Senate impeachment court.

A table based on Cabrera’s analysis, shown to the court by the prosecution, totaled exactly PHP 817,874,867 for 2022 to 2025, covering cash, personal and real properties, and computed income of the couple and several corporations that were allegedly undeclared.

The highest amount cited was PHP 264,217,123 in 2024, followed by PHP 195,692,505 in 2025, PHP 190,628,012 in 2022, and PHP 167,337,227 in 2023.

Together, the yearly figures add up to PHP 817,874,867.

In cash alone, the combined amount identified as undeclared over the four-year period reached PHP 207,696,933, broken down as PHP 60,214,776 in 2022, PHP 80,701,151 in 2023, PHP 23,169,077 in 2024, and PHP 43,611,929 in 2025.

Aside from cash, another PHP 143,497,177 in alleged undeclared personal and real properties, net of deductions made in the computation, was identified: PHP 76,147,730 in 2022, PHP 3,934,560 in 2023, PHP 52,016,994 in 2024, and PHP 11,397,893 in 2025.

In Cabrera’s analysis of the Duterte-Carpio couple’s combined income, the computed allegedly undeclared amount reached PHP 111,852,349, or PHP 50,474,511 in 2022, PHP 12,198,235 in 2023, PHP 28,030,203 in 2024, and PHP 21,149,400 in 2025.

Substantial amounts also surfaced in the analysis concerning Cale88, Metro City, and GenCorp.

For Cale88 and Metro City, the total computed allegedly undeclared income reached PHP 142,198,690, rising from PHP 3,790,995 in 2022 to PHP 14,788,989 in 2023, surging to PHP 86,944,369 in 2024, and standing at PHP 36,674,337 in 2025.

For GenCorp, the computed allegedly undeclared income reached PHP 212,629,718 over three years, composed of PHP 55,714,292 in 2023, PHP 74,056,480 in 2024, and PHP 82,858,946 in 2025.

No amount was recorded for GenCorp in 2022.

Cabrera is a lawyer and Certified Public Accountant with more than three decades of experience in accounting, taxation, law, and financial analysis.

His specializations include forensic audits, tax assessments, fraud investigations, and financial, tax, and legal due diligence, fields focused on the rigorous examination of records, transactions, and potential financial irregularities.

He graduated from the Philippine School of Business Administration with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy degree in 1986 and earned his Juris Doctor from Ateneo de Manila University in 1994.

He also completed executive education at two prominent business schools: the Leadership and Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2006 and the CEO Global Transformation Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2016.

PwC’s official profile also confirms his completion of business courses at Harvard and Wharton.

He also served as a board member of the PwC Southeast Asia Regional Consulting practice.

He was named Chairman Emeritus of PwC Philippines in July 2021 after serving two terms as Chairman and Senior Partner.

Among his awards are the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Outstanding CPA in Public Practice Award in 2015, CEO of the Year at the Asia Leaders Awards in 2019, and the Accountancy Centenary Award of Excellence in 2023.

In his testimony, Cabrera presented an analysis placing more than PHP 817 million at the center of the controversy over the alleged undeclared assets and unexplained wealth of the Duterte-Carpio couple.

Sara-linked Cale88 received funds from Ukrainian firm tagged in money laundering, fraud

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a senator-judge, revealed on the 37th day of the impeachment trial that Cale88 Foods Corp., a banana chips company linked to Duterte, received funds from a Ukrainian firm facing criminal complaints for money laundering and fraud.

In her questions to Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez, chief of staff of the Office of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Hontiveros asked whether the bureau is able to investigate companies whose cash inflows are the subject of suspicious transaction reports and covered transaction reports submitted to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council is the government body that receives such reports from banks and other covered institutions.

“Kaya ko po ito natanong kasi ni-review din po ng opisina ko yung ibang foreign-based companies na nagpadala ng pera sa Cale88, maliban dun sa mga nakabase sa China.. And lumalabas na at least isa doon, ay posibleng sangkot sa money laundering activities,” Hontiveros said.

Cale88, owned by Duterte’s husband, Carpio, was one of the businesses the vice president declared in her sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

Public officials are required by law to file a SALN.

Records of the Anti-Money Laundering Council showed that the company, established in 2021, received PHP 319.3 million in remittances from China and Hong Kong, a number of which came from Chinese state-owned firms.

Hontiveros pointed out that among the non-China firms that remitted funds to Cale88, identified through records submitted to the impeachment court, is a Ukrainian corporation currently named Arkmen LLC, with registration number 41423974 and a registered address of “Zoriana 30A, Tsybuliv, Ukraine.”

“At itong registration number, 41423974, at yung address Zoriana 30A, ay nagco-correspond sa isang kumpanya involved sa isang criminal proceeding na binuksan po nung May 19, 2025 para sa fraud and money laundering kaugnay ng 1.225 million euros,” Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros noted that in March 2026, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv ordered a search of Arkmen’s premises, and in April 2026, it ordered a freeze of a suspect’s 100% shareholding in the firm.

“At yung huling inward remittance po nitong Arkmen LLC sa Cale88 ay nung May 30, 2025 na pagkatapos na po ng petsa ng pagsisimula ng criminal proceedings,” Hontiveros added.

Responding to Hontiveros’ queries, Garcia-Marquez said the BIR and the Anti-Money Laundering Council have an existing coordination “to deter violations by taxpayers” on anti-money laundering policies.

However, she clarified that bank accounts are not among the documents that may be included for review and examination in the Letters of Authority used by the BIR, since such accounts are covered by existing bank secrecy laws.

PHP 150 million in sales, 2 employees

Scrutiny over Cale88’s operations deepened during questioning by Sen. Joel Villanueva, who raised that the banana chips company had only two employees according to its 2024 Audited Financial Statements, despite reporting around PHP 150 million in sales.

“This is alarming, Your Honor. You’re looking at a company with 150 million sales, 6.13 million ang losses, dalawa yung empleyado?” said Villanueva.

“Kung kaunti lang yung employee, paano po yun? Paano na-handle yung ganitong kalaking operations?” he continued.

According to Cale88’s 2024 financial statements, the company had PHP 150,765,259 in total sales, the bulk of which was tax-exempt, alongside net losses of PHP 6.13 million and total expenses of PHP 11,428,809.

Asked whether it was feasible for a banana chip manufacturing plant to operate with just two workers, Garcia-Marquez said, “Parang impossible po unless naka-machine sila ng dalawang employee lang.”

“Yung small workforce, kayo na ho yung sa bibig nyo nang galing, parang impossible to be consistent with the outsourcing or automation,” stressed Villanueva, who previously chaired the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development.

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan picked up on the company’s labor declarations, computing that Cale88’s reported 2024 salaries and wages of PHP 1,227,042 amounted to roughly PHP 97,000 per month across a 13-month period.

Pressed by Pangilinan on whether such figures raise questions about the validity of the declaration, Garcia-Marquez affirmed, “Yes po. And it will be checked sa audit po.”