ASEANEWS HEADLINE-ASIA GEOPOLITICS | SINGAPORE: Marcos: China ‘funding’ poses a threat, if true
President Marcos
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Marcos: VP Duterte China-linked funds ‘threat at highest level’ if true
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday warned that allegations involving Chinese funds linked to Vice President Sara Duterte could pose a threat “at the highest level” to the Philippines if proven true, as he confirmed that the government was thoroughly investigating the matter. | 🎥 : Gabryelle Dumalag, INQUIRER
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SINGAPORE — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday warned that allegations that Chinese entities funded a Philippine company linked to Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband could pose a threat “at the highest level” to the Philippines, if proved to be true.
“The most disturbing aspect of it is the Chinese money. That now rises to a national security issue,” Marcos told reporters, stressing that the allegations must first be substantiated. “If it is true, it is a threat—a threat at the highest level to the Republic.”
The president declined to speculate when asked what instructions he had given the Department of National Defense and whether he had communicated with Chinese officials about the allegations.
“What we are doing is thoroughly investigating this matter, the allegations,” he added.
READ: Defense chief: Need proof of Dutertes’ China funding
Mr. Marcos said the allegations, if substantiated, would rank among the country’s most serious national security threats.
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing“If it’s true, it would be, unfortunately, one more thing that we would have to worry about, and it would go straight to the top of our list of threats that are facing the Philippines,” he said. “We are talking about the sovereignty of the Republic. We are talking about the safety and security of the State.”
The President said he would welcome evidence disproving the allegations. “Nothing would make me happier than proof that it is not so. Then it’s one less thing that I have to worry about,” he said.
READ: Sara Duterte camp denies China ties amid Trillanes funding claims
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On Oct. 6, Day 34 of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros told the Senate impeachment court that some companies that sent a total of P319.32 million to Cale88 Foods Corp. are Chinese state-owned.
The Vice President’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, was previously identified as an incorporator, stockholder and board member of Cale88, a Davao-based manufacturer of banana chips. Company records showed that Carpio held a 40-percent to 47.5-percent stake between 2021 and 2024 before divesting in 2025.
Prosecutors had raised questions over the disparity between the company’s reported business activity and its financial transactions.
Set up in September 2021, Cale88 had a paid-up capital of P125,000 while Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records showed P319.32 million in inward remittances from mainland China and Hong Kong.
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‘Fake news’
President Marcos…..
On that same day, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura said the remittances went to Cale88, not directly to either Duterte or Carpio. He added that it was not established that the funds came from the Chinese government.
The AMLC’s tabular summaries put the foreign remittances from China to Cale88 at P319,326,770.41.
It matched the amount cited by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV at an Oct. 2 press conference after he was dropped as a prosecution witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial. Trillanes alleged that Chinese entities sent the money to Cale88 in tranches between 2023 and 2025.
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Trillanes earlier said Cale88 explicitly listed having no rank-and-file employees. But the company logged P208 million to P217.3 million in sales between 2023 and 2026.
Cale88 began as a small family business producing banana chips for the domestic and export markets. It later marketed Filipino snacks under the “Yu Mei Brand” in Chinese retail distribution.
House inquiry
Mr. Marcos also rejected Duterte’s claims that his administration was orchestrating political attacks against her, calling these “fake news.”
“Well, it is fake news! … Prove it! Based on what?” he said.
In Manila, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores said a colleague would file a resolution initiating a House inquiry into China’s alleged funding to Cale88.
“What is known is that someone is about to file a resolution asking for a congressional investigation into China’s in the dealings of the Vice President and her husband,” Flores, an impeachment prosecutor, told dzBB.
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Flores indicated that other government agencies have likely launched parallel reviews into the flagged China-linked transaction. “I think the DFA is also looking into it,” he said, referring to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He also described as “concerning” the China-linked money as it could mean foreign intervention in the country’s domestic affairs.
The National Security Council had said that any claims of “significant financial foreign flows” must be looked into in a “careful, in-depth and responsible” and assessed for possible national security risks.
“So this is something that should be looked into,” Flores said. —With a report from Kenneth Christiane Basilio INQ
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October 12, 2026
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