House prosecutors in the Senate impeachment trial declared the alleged sale of Atty. Manases Carpio’s shares in CALE88 Foods Corporation a “fake” after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) confirmed that no tax clearance had ever been applied for or issued for the transaction.
During direct examination, prosecution counsel Erwin Matib questioned BIR witness Atty. Anne Lorraine Garcia-Marquez regarding an Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration (e-CAR) for the supposed stock transfer of CALE88, a firm 47.5-percent owned by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband from 2021 to 2024, which received over P319 million in foreign remittances from Chinese companies.
Garcia-Marquez testified that the agency holds no record of an e-CAR issuance or any pending application for the transaction.
“Ibig sabihin, peke ang sale ng shares ni Atty. Carpio,” Matib concluded on the floor, referring to the supposed buyer, Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Inc.
Defense counsel Kristine Ferrer promptly objected to the characterization, prompting Presiding Officer Senate President Francis Escudero to sustain the objection.
Garcia-Marquez explained that BIR rules mandate an e-CAR prior to registering any share transfer in corporate books to guarantee tax settlement, noting that corporate secretaries face penalties for non-compliance.
Addressing earlier Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) testimony indicating Pikimong Pikimong became CALE88’s majority owner in 2025, Escudero asked whether the absence of an e-CAR invalidates a private transaction.
Garcia-Marquez clarified that while an unrecorded transfer may remain contractually binding between the buyer and seller, it cannot legally bind third parties or alter official tax and corporate registries without BIR clearance.