Manases "Mans" Reyes Carpio () is a Filipino lawyer who is the husband of Vice President

Sara Duterte Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio (, ; born May 31, 1978), commonly known as Inday Sara, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who is the 15th and current vice president of the Philippines. She is the third female vice president (after Gloria Macap ...

. He is only the second male spouse of a Philippine vice president, after Jose Miguel Arroyo from 1998 to 2001.

Education

He graduated from

De La Salle University De La Salle University (), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools with main campus in Taft Avenue, Malate, Man ...

where he took his undergraduate degree in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. Born in a family of lawyers, he also followed in the footsteps of his lineage, obtaining his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

at the

San Sebastian College – Recoletos San Sebastian College–Recoletos (SSC-R), commonly known by its nickname Bastê, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Order of Augustinian Recollects in Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is ...

. He also studied at

San Beda University San Beda University () is a private university, private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Order of Saint Benedict in San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. It was founded by the Benedictines ...

where he met his wife,

Legal career

While his wife was busy serving

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

where she was first elected as vice mayor in 2007, Carpio engaged himself with private practice, establishing and managing his own law firm which he named the "Carpio & Duterte Lawyers," together with his wife Sara. Carpio later spent time with their law firm after Sara decided not to run for public office in 2013. Their law firm specializes in business, commercial, and labor litigation, and serves both civil and criminal cases. Among their client was

Mighty Corporation Mighty Corporation () is a Filipino corporation and was the second largest cigarette manufacturer in the Philippines from 2010 to 2017. On September 8, 2017, Japan Tobacco acquired Mighty Corporation's cigarette business in the amount of ($936 m ...

, one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the Philippines.

Smuggling allegations

In August 2017, Carpio was implicated by Senator

Antonio Trillanes Antonio "Sonny" Fuentes Trillanes IV (; born August 6, 1971) is a former Philippine naval officer and politician who served as a senator of the Philippines from 2007 to 2019. He is known for his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny of 2003 and t ...

in the alleged smuggling at the

Bureau of Customs The Bureau of Customs (BoC or BOC; ) is a Philippine government agency that is responsible for the collecting of customs, customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes in the Philippines. It is part of the Department of Finance (Philip ...

. Trillanes raised some questions when Carpio visited the office of the Bureau of Customs numerous times and allegedly met with Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon. His father-in-law, President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

, defended him by saying that it is his job to visit and defend his clients as a lawyer would normally do. Carpio dismissed the allegations of Trillanes, calling the latter as a "desperate rumormonger". On July 31, 2024, Trillanes filed a drug and corruption complaint to the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

against Carpio, his brother-in-law and

1st District Rep.

Paolo Duterte Paolo "Pulong" Zimmerman Duterte (; ; born March 24, 1975) is a Filipino businessman and politician serving as the representative of Davao City's 1st district since 2019, and served as a House Deputy Speaker during the 18th Congress. Prior ...

, and eight others.

Personal life

Mans and Sara have four children: an adopted daughter, Mikhaila Maria, nicknamed "Sharky," two biological sons, Mateo Lucas, nicknamed "Stingray," Marko Digong, nicknamed "Stonefish," and one other child, known for having

nicknames A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

after

aquatic animal An aquatic animal is any animal, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, that lives in a body of water for all or most of its lifetime. Aquatic animals generally conduct gas exchange in water by extracting dissolved oxygen via specialised respirato ...

s. Both he and his sons are distancing themselves in the eyes of the public even though his wife is a prominent

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Most notably, they were not present during the proclamation of his wife as the duly elected

Vice President of the Philippines The vice president of the Philippines (, also referred to as ) is the second-highest official in the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is directly elect ...

at the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, but they attended the inauguration of his wife on June 19, 2022, at

. However, he actively campaigned and participated in some of the campaign sorties of his wife where he became a proxy and gave speeches to his wife's supporters. Mans' paternal aunt is the former

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Conchita Carpio Morales and a cousin of his father is the former

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Senior Associate Justice

Antonio Carpio Antonio Tirol Carpio (; born October 26, 1949) is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was sworn in as a member of the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 26, 2001, and served until h ...

, who is also widely known as a critic of his father-in-law's administration.

References

{{reflist 20th-century births Living people 21st-century Filipino lawyers Duterte family De La Salle University alumni San Beda University alumni San Sebastian College – Recoletos alumni People from Davao City