Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV alleged that China gave P150 million to Vice President Sara Duterte’s foundation and P319 million to a company linked to her husband, Manases Carpio, saying the alleged funding raises national security concerns.
According to Trillanes, the Tapang at Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines Inc., where Duterte sat on the Board of Trustees, received P150 million from the Chinese Embassy in 2019 for a classroom building project.
Carpio’s Cale88 Foods Corporation, on the other hand, allegedly received P319 million from the Chinese government and Chinese corporations in the past few years, but Trillanes cast doubt on whether it had legitimate operations, citing “red flags.”
“Ito na ang paraan ng China ng pagsuporta sa mag-asawang Duerte. Maliwanag po ito. Kaya dapat kilabutan po tayo rito kasi Vice President po siya,” he said.
He said Duterte cannot receive funds from a foreign government, as this has national security implications.
“Dito, clearly, disqualifies her, ang kanyang pagiging Vice President. Kapag pa ba hindi impeachable iyan, ewan ko na lang. Nagbu-bulag-bulagan tayo o nagta-tanga-tangahan tayo,” he said.
Trillanes, a long-time Duterte critic, made the allegations in a press conference on Friday a day after withdrawing as a witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial to take the pressure off the prosecution.
Asked for evidence to support his claims, he said these are supported by documents to be presented at Duterte’s impeachment trial.
“Kapag nag-testify yung dapat mag-testify, maku-kumpirma po ito,” he said.
He said his statements in the press conference are intended to provide context to the documents and financial records to be shown.
Had he spoken on the witness stand, his testimony would have been bogged down by technicalities and objections from defense lawyers and “defense senator-judges”, he added.
In his press conference, Trillanes said the Board of Trustees of Duterte’s Tapang at Malasakit foundation included Maria Laarni Cayetano, whom he said was the wife of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
A slide he flashed showed that the foundation entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Chinese Embassy, in cooperation with the Department of Education in Davao City for the construction of classrooms. P150 million was given to the foundation in 2019 and it was fully disbursed by the end of 2020.
Trillanes also said that Cale88 is in the banana chips export business, but he doubted that it has legitimate operations based on what he described as “red flags.”
These included a monthly electricity bill averaging P8,000, which he said was low for a company with sales of over P100 million, and its zero trade receivables and payables.
Another detail he flagged was the company’s P150 million declared sales in 2024, alleging that it only paid P10,705 in income tax.
Its cash balance in 2024 was at P400,294, despite its massive sales, he added.
He also said the company had no rank-and-file employee in 2024, and declared two in 2025.
Trillanes also said that Cale88’s sales were only P20,000 in 2022, and then grew to P23 million in 2023, and P150 million in 2024. It went down to P34.5 million in 2025.
He said Carpio incorporated Cale88 in 2021 with several partners and then divested from it in 2025.
He linked this to the filing of the first impeachment complaint against Duterte.
Carpio’s assets have come under scrutiny in Duterte’s impeachment trial because property acquired by spouses is generally governed by the absolute community of property, meaning what belongs to the husband generally also belongs to the wife.