Zubiri urges: Move on, tackle other issues on Sara Duterte's 'unexplained wealth'

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Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday urged that the discussion in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte "move on" to other key issues regarding her alleged unexplained wealth, including the supposed inflow of money from China through a company linked to her husband, Manases Carpio.

Zubiri made the call after the defense presented two witness, lawyer Anel Antero and Chad Parian, who testified on Carpio's credit card purchases worth over P200,000 each.

Antero testified that he partly reimbursed Carpio for the P200,000-meal they ate at Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, while Parian testified that Carpio paid for over P256,000 worth of shoes for the young players of the Elite Basketball team and their parents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Parian said his son and that of Carpio played for the same team in a tournament in Malaysia where the team won the championship.

Zubiri expressed readiness to tackle about other matters concerning the vice president.

"I think we are belaboring the point. He (Carpio) did spend money for the team. You (The prosecution) made your point that it could be ostentatious. Of course, the defense is saying that they were reimbursed. Ok na siguro 'yan (I think that's enough)," Zubiri said.

Prosecution witnesses included Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, who confirmed that the Carpio-linked Cale88 Foods Corporation received P319 million from China and Hong Kong.

Financial forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera, another witness for the prosecution, testified that the undeclared assets and unexplained wealth of Duterte and Carpio amounted to at least P817.87 million, to as high as about P1.5 billion, from 2022 to 2025.

"What I am more interested in is not on the spending of this credit card. I am more interested saan napunta iyong 300 million foreign deposits sa Cale88 [Foods Corporation]. Saan galing 'yun? Anong ginawa sa pera? May mga documentation ba na nabayaran ang kanilang dividend stocks?…Things like that. Let's move on and maybe let's listen to other witnesses and give us the more substantive answers to the cases at hand," Zubiri added.

(What I am more interested in is not on the spending of this credit card. I am more interested on where the 300 million foreign deposits for Cale88 ended up. Where is this payout coming from? What was done with the money? Are these documented in terms of paid dividend stocks?)

Cale88 is a declared asset of the Vice President's husband, Attorney Carpio, in multiple years.

Defense counsel Sheila Sison informed the Senate impeachment court that she and her colleagues do not intend to present Quezon City prosecutor Vimar Barcellano as witness as scheduled, provided that the prosecution will stipulate on agreeing that Barcellano is a competent witness to authenticate documentary evidence presented by the defense.

The prosecution stipulated on this matter, prompting the early adjournment of the trial around 12:30 p.m. — VDV, GMA News