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Philippine VP impeachment: Trillanes alleges China gave Duterte-linked firms Php319M
Trillanes said Chinese corporations gave more than P319 million (Dh18.9 million) to a banana chips company called Calle88, owned by Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio, from 2021 to 2024
- PUBLISHED: Fri 2 Oct 2026, 2:37 PM
Unable to present his testimony in the open impeachment court against Vice President Sara Duterte, a former senator revealed China’s links with the Philippine leader in a public briefing on Friday.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV detailed allegations of Duterte's undeclared wealth and financial discrepancies, including undeclared time deposits, investment insurance policies, and funds linked to China-affiliated entities and organisations.
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Trillanes said the Chinese government and China-based corporations gave more than P319 million (Dh18.9 million) to a banana chips company called Calle88, owned by Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio, from 2021 to 2024. The cash inflows were not reported in the couple’s statement of assets, Trillanes said.
Duterte’s camp has yet to comment on Trillanes’ allegations.
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Trillanes, a known critic of the Duterte political clan, also said China donated P150 million (Dh8.8 million) in 2019 to the Tapang at Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines Inc., a foundation purportedly for the construction of schools.
According to Trillanes, these combined transactions demonstrate a coordinated method by China to financially back the Duterte family, arguing that a public official accepting substantial funding from a foreign government carries severe national security implications. He asserted that these documented financial ties provide direct legal grounds for her disqualification and impeachment.
Use of fictitious names
Aside from alleged Chinese financial links, Trillanes also revealed that the Dutertes used fictitious names in putting up corporations that eventually cornered millions of pesos worth of projects with the government of Davao City.
Trillanes alleged that the Dutertes claimed that a certain Ang Hai Peng owned a 60 per cent stake in Timesquare Bee Foods Corporation, which operated Jollibee and Chowking fast-food stores in their political bailiwick.
He said that Ang has no record at all in any Philippine agency and has a fake tax identification number in the company. It turned out that Ang shares the same birthday with Jaime T. Cruz, who is on record as the majority stakeholder when Timesquare Bee Foods Corporation was renamed as GenCorp Industries Corp.
The vice president listed GenCorp as among the business interests she is connected with. Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte admitted before the impeachment court on Wednesday that the corporation has won P15 million in catering contracts with his city government and that Cruz is his business partner.
Cruz was also appointed by former president Rodrigo Duterte as special envoy to China during his term.
Huge time deposits
Finally, Trillanes said the vice president misdeclared financial assets worth millions of pesos and dollars in time deposits and life insurance policies in her public records from 2007 to 2010 while she served as Davao City vice mayor.
The Duterte nemesis claimed that Duterte had time deposits worth P53m and $212,000 in 2007 that grew to P94 million and $224,000 by 2009. Yet, Duterte stuck to having P2 million in cash on hand in the said timeframe.
Trillanes did not present records during his public disclosure.
The former senator was withdrawn from the list of witnesses the impeachment prosecution earlier said it would present to the court. Trillanes said on Thursday that it was him who asked the prosecution to remove him from the witness list “to free the prosecution from undue pressure.”
Impeachment prosecution spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers, however, said that Trillanes’ additional disclosures should also be examined against official records. “The question now is not whether Trillanes should be believed. The question is: What else from his disclosures can be established by official records?” Barbers said.
“Follow the money. Follow the documents. Compare them with the SALN. And let the official records establish where the evidence leads,” Barbers added.