Chinese state firms remitted P319 million to Sara Duterte-linked company — Hontiveros

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte gestures as she leaves the Hall of Justice in Quezon City, Metro Manila on Sept. 11, 2026.

AFP / Jam Sta Rosa

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese state-owned enterprises with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Beijing’s foreign influence apparatus have remitted millions of pesos to Cale88 Foods Corp., a company linked to Vice President Sara Duterte.

During the impeachment trial on October 6, Sen. Risa Hontiveros revealed that her office’s research uncovered deep geopolitical links behind the P319 million that entered Calle88 from China.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) had previously flagged these transactions as covered and suspicious transaction reports due to a lack of legitimate underlying transactions.

According to Hontiveros, one of the entities that sent money to Calle88 is China National Township Enterprises.

“Base po sa research ng opisina ko, dating directly under the Ministry of Agriculture sa China at naging isang large state-owned agricultural enterprise under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council,” Hontiveros said.

(Based on my office’s research, it was previously directly under the Ministry of Agriculture in China and became a large state-owned agricultural enterprise under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.)

She added that the public profiles of China National Township Enterprises openly mention being "committed to serving the implementation of the country's Belt and Road Initiative and foreign policy.”

Another enterprise is Beijing Jianweifang Food Co., owned by the Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group, which acts as its Series A investor and has maintained a strategic cooperation agreement with the Beijing firm since 2019.

She said that the Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group is "not an ordinary company" but a Chinese state-owned enterprise that actively advances the interests of the CCP.

“It's a Chinese state-owned enterprise. It advances the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. Sa mismong corporate governance structure ng Xinjiang Fruit may institutional Chinese Communist Party organization na naka-embed,” Hontiveros said.

(It is a Chinese state-owned enterprise. It advances the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. Embedded within the very corporate governance structure of Xinjiang Fruit is an institutional Chinese Communist Party organization.)

When asked by Hontiveros whether the AMLC is actively investigating these Chinese companies and their geopolitical linkages, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura said that he was unable to answer.

“The only documents related to what we were subpoenaed po 'yung pong mga na-submit po namin na…Summary report po, financial investigation report, financial investigation report,” Buenaventura said.

(The only documents related to what we were subpoenaed for are the ones we submitted, which are the summary report and the financial investigation reports.)

In a statement on October 5, the Chinese Embassy denied that Beijing had ties to a "Philippine political faction."

Calle88 was listed among the business interests connected with Sara Duterte in her 2022–2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

However, records from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio, was an incorporator, director and shareholder of Calle88 from 2021 to 2024.

His ownership reportedly reached 47.5% in 2024, but his name no longer appeared as a shareholder in 2025.