Representative Paolo Duterte, Mans Carpio Implicated in Drug Smuggling Operations

Vice President Sara Duterte’s brother and husband were named as the alleged owners of the PHP 3.4 billion worth of shabu seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in 2018. This allegation was made by former Bureau of Customs (BOIC) official and convict Jimmy Guban in a recent House hearing headed by four Committee Chairmen – dubbed as the “quadcomm” – on illegal drugs and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs). 

In Guban’s own words, and in explaining the change of his previous testimony in 2018:  

“For fear that my son and other members of my family will be killed, including myself, I testified during the (Senate) hearing on Oct. 30, 2018, and instead of pointing or naming Pulong Duterte, Mans Carpio and Michael Yang as the owners of the shipment based on the intelligence reports I gathered, I pointed to Acierto as the one who had knowledge that the shipment [had] illegal drugs.” 

Source: Inquirer 

In August 2018, authorities seized around 500 kilos of shabu concealed in two magnetic lifters. The lifters reportedly arrived from Malaysia to the MICP in June of that year. A few days after the discovery, authorities found four empty magnetic lifters bearing a close resemblance to the seized lifters in MICP at General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite. The empty lifters previously contained PHP 6.8 billion worth of shabu.  

Guban, along with former police officer Eduardo Acierto, were identified as “core conspirators” to the crime. Guban is currently serving life imprisonment.    

Responses of the Accused

Both Representative Paolo Duterte and Mans Carpio denied the allegations raised by Guban. According to Representative Duterte, “I do not know Jimmy Guban, and I am certain that he does not know me either. We have had no transaction or connection, so there is no reason for him to be warned against mentioning my name.” 

Meanwhile, Carpio said that the allegations against him were “entirely baseless and maliciously false.” Carpio further said, “the public and the esteemed members of the House of Representatives are, I trust, perceptive enough to recognize that Mr. Guban’s claims, implicating Congressman Pulong [Duterte] and myself, are unmistakably politically motivated.”  

Similarly, Michael Yang denied the allegations. Atty. Raymond Fortun, speaking in behalf of his client, Michael Yang, said that Guban’s allegations were “hearsay in nature,” and raised the contradictory statements Guban has made while under oath previously in 2018.  

Vice President Sara Duterte refused to speak on the issue, explaining that the allegations against her brother and her husband must be answered by them, alone. “Same with me, if there are issues involving me, I will be the only one to answer that,” the Vice President explained. She did however describe the allegations against her brother and husband as “political harassment.”   

Changing Political Climate

PSA notes that the recent House hearings are a sign of a shifting political climate that incentivizes these events to happen. Following her resignation from the Cabinet, the Vice President has effectively removed herself from the President’s ruling coalition, composed of most members of the House (ruled by House Speaker Martin Romualdez) and a select number of Senators. Meanwhile, her family, led by former President Rodrigo Duterte, has positioned themselves as the opposing party to the current administration. 

The members of the House of Representatives who held the hearings are largely the same individuals that so strongly backed former President Rodrigo Duterte during his term.   

PSA anticipates for these kinds of hearings to continue, especially as the rivalry between these two factions worsens.