AMLC records match Trillanes claims vs VP, husband receiving over P319M from China, Hong Kong

Records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) showed that Cale88 Foods Corp., a firm linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Mans Carpio, received inward remittances aggregating P319.32 million from China and Hong Kong.

The records matched former senator Antonio Trillanes’ recent claims that the couple received the same amount, but from the Chinese government, an allegation the VP’s camp vehemently denied.

AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura presented the financial data before the Senate impeachment court on Monday, Day 33 of the trial, despite initial objections from senator-judges allied with Duterte.

“The aggregate amount […] indicated in our tabular summary is P319,326,770.41, Your Honor,” Buenaventura said in response to private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia’s query.

Of the total, P3.39 million came from Hong Kong, while the lion’s share, or P315.935 million, came from mainland China.

The remittance in question formed part of the summary covering three suspicious transactions by the corporation.

The said transaction was flagged for “underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification.”

Buenaventura’s testimony also revealed that P4.4 billion in covered and suspicious transactions were recorded in the bank accounts of Duterte and Carpio.

Last week, Trillanes alleged that Duterte and Carpio received approximately P319 million in remittances from the Chinese government through Cale88, a banana chip company founded by Carpio. The firm was also listed in Duterte’s SALN from 2022 to 2025.

Carpio, meanwhile, was an incorporator, director, and shareholder from 2021 to 2024.

Trillanes pointed out red flags in the company's operations, such as sales purportedly increasing by P150 million despite its registration as a small-scale banana chip exporter.

In 2022, the corporation allegedly posted a meager P20,000 in sales, up from zero in 2021. Sales purportedly rose sharply in 2023 to P23 million and ballooned to P150 million in 2024.

He also flagged the corporation's average monthly electricity bill of P8,000. He argued that the amount does not accurately reflect the operations of a typical company.

On top of this, Trillanes also linked Tapang at Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines, a pro-Duterte alliance, to receiving P150 million in donations from the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Monday released a statement flatly denying allegations of funding a political faction in the Philippines, calling them malicious political manipulation designed to “smear” China.

‘Money laundering’

Divinagracia asked whether these transactions constitute money laundering, but the witness declined to make conclusions.

The defense opposed the presentation of the VP's bank record history, including the transaction in question. Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan argued that the records are protected by confidentiality laws and that presenting them in court could violate legal safeguards.

Before presenting the bank records, Senator-judges Pia Cayetano and Imee Marcos raised concerns that publicly divulging them could violate the strict confidentiality provisions of Republic Act 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

They argued the law contains strict confidentiality rules for bank records and does not explicitly include impeachment as an exception, unlike the Bank Secrecy Law.

Pushing back against Cayetano’s remarks that admitting the records could “put a cloud on the proceedings,” Senator-judge Kiko Pangilinan pointed out that confidentiality provisions apply to covered financial institutions and not to the AMLC itself.

He argued the impeachment court should be considered a competent body capable of compelling the disclosure of records. He maintained that the legislative intent of the AMLA was to allow for financial transparency in legal proceedings, particularly in a case as significant as an impeachment trial.

“It would be absurd that a private bank in an impeachment trial can be compelled to divulge bank records while the AMLA, which is the government entity that is supposed to address issues of criminal activity and money laundering, cannot be compelled to present AMLA transactions and records,” Pangilinan said in rebuttal.

The three senators are primary authors of the AMLA.