Starbucks, CALE88 in the same boat

The ongoing Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte has brought to the fore an otherwise quiet and low-key local business firm called CALE88, an exporter to various countries—not just China—of processed banana chips made from Philippine cardava bananas (saba).

Cale88 Foods Corp. has become controversial because VP Inday Sara and her husband were linked to its operations as alleged stockholders once.  The AMLC executive director Ronel Buenaventura alleged that  ₱319.33 million in remittances from China and Hong Kong entered CALE88 Foods Corp. But AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura also testified that the AMLC’s records do not show that China, as a country, or the Chinese government itself funneled those funds to Cale88.

It was established before the impeachment court that Cale88’s customers in China did not represent the Chinese government.  Asked by defense lawyer Mark Vinluan whether AMLC records showed that  China, as a country, sent money to CALE88, Buenaventura replied there was no such showing in the records.

The cabal of Philippine Association of China Haters including Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Jay Tarriela, Gibo Teodoro, Antonio Trillanes, etc. and their media propagandists were quick to link Sara to CALE88 inflow revenues, insinuating even that the banana chips exporter and China are doing  some shady deals.

Once again, the China haters have sullied the good reputation and image of Vice President Sara, with even the clueless Bongbong Marcos joining the fray, parroting the lie, which to me is a very unpresidential knee-jerk reaction.

Has Bongbong become America’s top quockerwodger?

Hontiveros even had the temerity to say that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has something to do with the subject banana chips export, followed on the heels by Tarriela and Powell who both claimed that the Party’s United Front commission in involved in providing funds for the business which is linked to the Duterte-Carpio couple.

Let me point out that CALE88 is a legitimate exporter of Filipino food products, and was even promoted by the Department of Trade and Industry, the International Food Exhibition (IFEX) and CITEM.  It exports its products, among them banana chips, to the US, China, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, South Africa, and Ukraine, among other countries.

From here, we cut to China itself, particularly in Xinjiang where the American company Starbucks has just opened several stores.  This ties up Starbucks and CALE88— two legitimate companies which are now on the receiving end of vitriols from international China haters.

One is inside Urumqi’s International Grand Bazaar. The other is at Tianshan International Airport.

On September 29, Starbucks officially entered the Xinjiang market. Its flagship store at the Grand Bazaar—nicknamed “Star Bazaar”—does not look like a standard Starbucks transplanted from somewhere else. The building draws inspiration from traditional bazaar architecture and Xinjiang’s colorful Atlas silk. Inside, customers can watch performances inspired by the Twelve Muqam, while local cultural elements are woven throughout the design. The menu is equally local.

There is a pomegranate-yogurt Frappuccino, a blue cheese mousse latte inspired by Sayram Lake, milk tea, apricot-and-kaymak cheesecake, nut-filled pastries and even lamb-filled baked snacks.

In April 2026, Starbucks officially finalized its China joint venture with Boyu Capital. “By combining Starbucks’ trusted global brand with Boyu’s deep local expertise, we are positioning the business to serve more customers, enter more cities, and strengthen our leadership in a dynamic and evolving market,” said Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol.

Chinese coffee lovers were interested.  During the National Day holiday, selected Xinjiang-inspired drinks and foods were also introduced to more than 2,700 Starbucks stores across 41 Chinese cities.

All is well and everything is fine, except when the US House Select Committee on China politicized this simple business move by Starbucks.  

If you still do not know, the US has its own Gibos and Tarrielas and Hontiveroses—in fact, our China haters take their cue and receive their funds from America’s NED, a branch of the CIA.

So the House committee led by John Moolenaar attacked Starbucks and Xinjiang with blistering bigotry.

Moolenaar said:  “This is a shocking and morally bankrupt decision by a company that prides itself on social responsibility. There is no justifiable reason for an American company to do business in a region where the CCP has detained more than a million Uyghurs and is stripping them of their faith, language, and culture.”

The congressman continued: “Every cup sold in these stores ties an iconic American brand to the CCP’s brutal campaign against the Uyghurs. Starbucks should immediately reverse course and close its stores in Xinjiang.”

He is joined by senior Congressman Ra Khanna and other members of the committee.

The world knows that the disinformation that the western politicians and media have been saying about human rights violations in Xinjiang are just banjaxed propaganda aimed to disparage China’s rise in the global stage.