PASAY CITY, Philippines — Sworn testimony from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has validated financial disclosures made by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV regarding Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, members of the House prosecution panel said on Monday, October 5.
AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified before the Senate impeachment court detailing ₱4.4 billion in covered and suspicious transactions connected to Duterte and Carpio between 2007 and 2025. The testimony confirmed ₱319.3 million in inward remittances from mainland China and Hong Kong sent to Cale88 Foods Corporation, where Carpio held a 47.5% stake through 2024.
Prosecution panel member Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. stated that the official financial records backed the claims Trillanes previously presented in a public briefing on October 2.
“In fairness to Sen. Trillanes, just like what happened before the House of Representatives, it seems like he has been vindicated again by official records,” Tolosa said.
“Marami siyang sinabi na mga transactions, maraming information na narinig din natin ngayon na-confirm doon sa documents and summary identified by the AMLC executive director. Yung pinakatumatak, dahil noong press conference niya talagang pinag-usapan, ay yung funds that were received from China-based companies,” Tolosa added.
House Deputy Speaker and Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin noted that the government repository’s confirmation provided substantial weight to the former lawmaker’s statements.
“Marami ang nagtatanong, hindi kaya gawa-gawa lang iyan? Saan nanggaling yung mga numero na iyan? Ngayon na nagsalita ang AMLC, nabigyan ng katotohanan ang kanyang mga sinabi,” Garin said.
Former Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers, spokesperson and adviser for the prosecution panel, explained that while Trillanes’ press conference lacked legal standing on its own, the official submission of AMLC documents gave the claims solid evidentiary weight.
“Doon sa mga information na ipinahayag ni Senator Trillanes sa kanyang press conference, mukhang tumutugma dito sa report ng ating [AMLC] na isinumite dito sa ating impeachment court,” Barbers said.
“Dahil ito ay hindi pahayag sa harap ng korte o sa loob ng korte, talagang wala naman siyang evidentiary value during that time. But now that we’ve seen records coming from government institutions such as AMLC, mabigat na ebidensya ito na maaaring magamit,” he added.
According to the summary provided by the AMLC, Cale88 recorded over ₱1.25 billion in covered and suspicious transactions from 2022 to 2025 across 742 covered transaction reports and 15 suspicious transaction reports.
The state agency also detailed confidential information-sharing reports naming Duterte in 27 instances, Carpio in 17, and businessman Samuel “Sammy” Uy in related filings.
“Napakahalaga ng information na ito dahil we can already follow yung money trail,” Barbers noted, adding that the ultimate assessment of the evidence remains with the senator-judges.
“As far as the value of such information is concerned, I personally believe na ito ay may probative value at ito ay dapat tingnan at ikonsidera ng ating senator-judges,” Barbers said.