CAGAYAN de Oro City — Cale88 Foods Corp., partly owned by Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, may need further scrutiny over its financial transactions, an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) official told the Senate impeachment court Tuesday.
AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura made the statement in response to clarificatory questions from Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian during the continuation of his testimony in Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Buenaventura, a prosecution witness, was on his second day of testimony.
Gatchalian questioned why Cale88, which he said had a paid-up capital of only P125,000, recorded P776.6 million in inflows and P154.6 million in outflows from 2022 to 2025.
The figures were included in an AMLC summary of transactions involving 15 corporations supposedly linked to the vice president and her husband. Buenaventura submitted the summary to the impeachment court last Thursday.
“Ang sales nila since 2021 was only P23 million, assets nila P18 million, and liabilities ay P20 million,” the Senate chief said.
Based on Buenaventura’s testimony and the records he presented, Gatchalian said covered institutions cited two reasons for flagging certain inward remittances to Cale88 as suspicious transactions.
These were “there is no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification” and “the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of the client.”
“Kasi kung hindi mahanap sa libro yung P776 million, candidate ba itong Cale88 for money laundering? In your expert opinion, at experience mo, dapat ma-reflect yan sa books di ba?” Gatchalian asked.
“As a starting point po, it’s difficult to say. As starting point, maaari po, but we have to consider all other factors,” Buenaventura answered.
Gatchalian then asked, “Pero puwede siyang candidate for money laundering?”
“Kung candidate lang po, yes, but we have to consider all other factors,” the witness responded.
Gatchalian asked what the AMLC would do next if a corporation were classified as a candidate for money laundering.
“In general lang po, we have to determine kung ano po yung unlawful activity na maaaring pinanggalingan ng pera, or naging transaction dun sa pera,” he said, citing possible predicate offenses such as kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, and graft and corruption.
“The proceeds must come from illegal activity,” Buenaventura added.
“Dito niyo na titingnan kung saan nanggaling yung pera. Dito niyo na rin titingnan, kasi kalahati ng sales nila, galing ng China whether yung entity sa China is legitimate or not,” Gatchalian said.
He was referring to Cale88, which received a total of P319 million in remittances from Chinese companies based on the AMLC report.
“In general, yes po, it will be looked at, all other factors po,” Buenaventura said.
Earlier, Buenaventura confirmed that Cale88 received an aggregate of P319.326 million in inward remittances from mainland China and Hong Kong, based on AMLC records presented to the impeachment court.
Of the amount, about P315.94 million came from mainland China, while about P3.39 million came from Hong Kong.
The transactions included covered transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports.
Three of the transactions were flagged as suspicious because there was reportedly “no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification.”
Gatchalian also asked the AMLC official if Cale88’s financial status would fall under the reason cited by covered institutions for flagging foreign remittances as “not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of the client.”
“Kung ang capital ay P125,000, tapos pumasok P776 million in sales o cash, pasok ba siya dito? Is the capital of P125,000 commensurate to P776 million?” the Senate chief asked.
“I have to check po the nature of the business. If based on this juridical person, we have to conduct further investigation, if needed po,” Buenaventura answered.
