Every Cent Of Wealth Is Legitimate – Sara Duterte

Every cent of her wealth came from legitimate sources, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Thursday, April 23, refuting allegations during the House impeachment hearings that she amassed unexplained wealth.

“My answer to all the slander is simple. My service record is clean. I have never been charged with the misuse of public funds. I declared all my assets and money in my statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN). Every cent is from a legitimate source and has the corresponding documentation,” Duterte stressed.

Testifying on Wednesday, April 22, before the House committee on justice’s clarificatory hearing as part of ongoing impeachment proceedings against Duterte, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) executive director Ronel Buenaventura revealed bank accounts tied to Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio had been repeatedly flagged for suspicious and covered transactions from 2006 to 2025 worth a total of P6.77 billion.

In a summary report, Buenaventura said the AMLC identified 313 covered transactions and 17 suspicious transactions in Duterte’s accounts, and 317 covered transactions and 16 suspicious transactions in her husband’s.

The flagged transactions totaled P6.77 billion, broken down into P3.77 billion linked to Duterte’s accounts and P2.99 billion to Carpio’s.

Buenaventura said the records showed an inflow of P1.83 billion into Duterte’s accounts and P2.59 billion into Carpio’s, or P4.43 billion in total deposits. On the outflow side, he said P1.21 billion was withdrawn from Duterte’s accounts and P343.32 million from Carpio’s.

The AMLC identified P791.1 million in transactions that could not be clearly determined based on available records. It also noted a marked increase in the historical trend of Duterte’s bank transactions, which surged to P208.15 million in 2007.

“The timing of all this is also undeniable. The series of allegations and cases against me began after I left the Cabinet, when I refused to sign a national budget that I could not defend to the people,” Duterte said in a statement.

“Real thieves don’t put money in the bank—but in a suitcase,” Duterte noted.

Bank accounts disclosed in SALN under ‘others’

The camp of Vice President Duterte clarified the bank accounts were disclosed and listed under the “others” portion of Duterte’s SALN.

At a press conference on Thursday, lawyer Michael Poa, spokesperson for the 16-man legal team of Duterte, was reacting after House lawmakers said Duterte did not declare even a single peso in cash from 2019 to 2024.

“I guess the simple explanation in consultation with, of course, the client because she disclosed, she disclosed. I can understand the confusion because it’s accurate to say that there is no line item of cash in the bank. But what I’m saying is she disclosed it because it was all lumped under the ‘others,’” Poa said.

“Because the personal items, as you can see in SALN. It’s written there, vehicles, others, etc. So the cash in the bank is included in the others. So, she disclosed. There is no saying that she doesn’t have cash in bank. It’s just lumped under the others,” Poa added.

“I just wanted to clarify because we might say that the House members are lying. It’s not like that. What they’re saying is there is no line item of cash in bank. So now we’re just clarifying upon consultation with our client that she disclosed all of those, actually,” Poa added.

The AMLC furnished the justice committee with two sets of documents: a report on covered transactions involving Duterte and her husband, and another on suspicious transactions from 2006 to 2025, as indicated in the subpoena. It also submitted financial intelligence and investigation reports.

“The claim that the SALN (of Duterte) and the AMLC report do not match is a conclusion itself, that’s our position. There is nothing that doesn’t match. Obviously, we cannot disclose how we will defend the Vice President. What happened (on Thursday) is something we already expected,” Poa added.

Committee members believe the discrepancy in Duterte’s SALNs may indicate a pattern of under-declaration, raising questions about her reported wealth – an issue central to determining probable cause for impeachment based on allegations of unexplained and ill-gotten wealth.

Palace: No reaction

Malacañang was mum on the alleged billions of pesos in transactions linked to the bank accounts of Vice President Duterte and her husband, saying the information is no longer new.

“The President has no reaction; the Palace has no reaction. Perhaps it is better to know the reaction of the Vice President because the billions worth of transactions in her bank accounts have been revealed,” Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a briefing on Thursday.

Castro said that there is no need to relay a message to Duterte on her decision to skip the impeachment hearings. “She is the Vice President, she is a public servant, so she said she is pushing for accountability and transparency, so she should know what to do, how she would explain it to the people,” she added.

Marcos funding Trillanes’ exposé – Duterte

Vice President Duterte also alleged that President Marcos is funding former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who testified that members of the Duterte family – from the former president down to his children – allegedly received drug money worth P181.6 million from a certain Sammy Uy.

“For nearly a decade, Mr. Antonio Trillanes IV has been peddling the same incredible story about alleged billions in bank accounts. From 2016 to 2026, nothing in his narrative has changed. What has changed, however, is the machinery now backing him,” Duterte said.

“Today, he is backed by a sitting President who must be compelled to submit to a simple drug test; law-bender members of the House of Representatives that have received ‘maletas’ and have repeatedly disregarded constitutional limits; a Commission on Audit that appears to time its issuances in a manner that conveniently aligns with political attacks; and newly installed Anti-Money Laundering Council officials who remain silent and refuse to clarify that there have been no findings of violations of anti-money laundering laws, and the billions of pesos in bank accounts are untrue,” Duterte added.

In his sworn affidavit, Trillanes said the Duterte family encashed P181.6 million in checks allegedly tied to Uy, adding that these acts amount to impeachable offenses, including betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes.

Trillanes said aside from the Vice President, also on the payroll were former president Rodrigo Duterte, Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte; Rep. Paolo Duterte; and Cielito Avanceña / Veronica Duterte.

In his testimony, Trillanes also attempted to place Sammy Uy within a broader network by pointing to the businessman’s purported political and business links to former president Duterte and his economic adviser Michael Yang.

Defense team vows victory

Poa said the only target of the defense team is to win the case once the impeachment complaint against the Vice President reaches the Senate.

“The defense team is not here to lose. We only have one target. It’s not just to win but actually to show the general public and the people of the Philippines that there is no truth to the allegations being hurled against our Vice President,” he said.

“We’re here to protect the rights of our client, and we’re here to show the Filipino people that our Vice President is not corrupt and… did nothing wrong,” Poa added.

According to Poa, it’s business as usual for Duterte. “I’ve seen it up close when I was with her. You know our Vice President. She’s just business as usual. She’s just making sure that OVP’s projects are not affected,” he said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Senate is prepared to convene as an impeachment court as early as May 4 if the House formally transmits the articles of impeachment against Duterte by then. – With Alexis Romero