Context Dispatch

Senator Mark Villar has joined the majority in the Senate. He was persuaded by Senator Migz Zubiri and was named chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works and Highways, and into the powerful Commission on Appointments. Zubiri said that this had nothing to do with the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, downplaying suggestions that it will help guarantee enough votes for the conviction of the Vice President. Zubiri said there is a chance that senators will vote not because of political affiliation, but their own conscience.

House prosecutors said they found gaps in Vice President Sara Duterte’s annual Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2022 to 2025, the first four years of her six-year term, with the highest alleged gap reaching P98 million in 2023.

The National Security Council (NSC) will examine P319.33 million in remittances from mainland China and Hong Kong to Cale88 Foods Corp., a company linked to lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte.

A tabulation presented by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, showed covered and suspicious transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte’s accounts from 2007 to 2025. The records reflected total inflows of P1.41 billion, outflows of P1.06 billion, and P1.26 billion in transactions with undetermined inflow or outflow. The report also showed inflows from China and other countries amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos involving Cale88 Foods Corp., owned by Duterte’s husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, with whom she has an absolute community of property. The AMLC report forms part of the prosecution’s evidence on alleged ill-gotten wealth, as prosecutors contend their salaries and business income are insufficient to explain their accumulated wealth.

UK Trade Minister Anas Sarwar visited Jollibee’s BGC Triangle Drive store in Taguig City this week, as part of his official trip to the Philippines.