Firm linked to Sara Duterte's husband closed two bank accounts in July --witness

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The two checking accounts of Cale88, one of the listed business interest of Vice President Sara’s husband, Manases Carpio, were closed last July, the same month that the Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial started.

Leslie Cham, the Security Bank Branch Banking Group head, made the testimony during Day 35 of the impeachment trial of the Vice President during the questioning of Senator judge Francis Pangilinan.

Cham testified that two checking accounts of Cale88 Foods Corporation were opened in August 2024 and October 2025, respectively, but both were closed in July 2026.

"Both closed on July 2026," Cham said.

The impeachment trial of the Vice President started on July 6.

Cham said that one of the accounts' ending balance as of the end of 2025 is at least P332,000, while the other account posted an ending balance of P21,000 as of December 2025.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura earlier testified that Cale88 Foods Corporation had aggregate covered suspicious transactions amounting to P1.25 billion from 2022 to 2025.

“We have CTRs (Covered Transaction Reports), STRs (Suspicious Transaction Reports) from 2022 to 2025. For Cale88, the aggregated amount is P1,254,736,297.08,” Buenaventura said.

Buenaventura also told the Senate court that the P1.25 billion in covered and suspicious transactions include the P319 million inward remittance from China that Cale 88 received.

Cale88 is one of the business interests listed under the joint Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of the Vice President and her husband in multiple years, including the years when the Vice President already assumed office.

Duterte’s defense team maintained that an STR is not a sufficient basis to conclude that the Vice President engaged in illegal transactions.

They also said that the witness affirmed this, stating that it is a legal requirement and that no illegality can be concluded solely on the basis of the report. —VAL, GMA News