WATCH: Unexplained Wealth Allegation Potentially Most Dangerous For Defense — Lawyer
#TheBigStory | Lawyer Rafael Aquino said the unexplained wealth allegation could be the toughest case for the defense team in the impeachment trial.
Aquino, a human rights lawyer and senior partner at the Santos, Paruñgao, Aquino & Santos Law Offices who is known for his active volunteer work with the Free Legal Assistance Group, also said the burden of proof could shift to Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense if her financial records reveal unexplained wealth.
He said the defense would need to account for the assets or risk them being treated as unjustified.
Former Senate president Franklin Drilon told “Storycon” on One News that bank secrecy cannot be invoked in impeachment trial.
Drilon explained the Bank Secrecy Law provides an exception for impeachment proceedings, arguing that confidentiality cannot be used to block evidence in the trial.
Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Domingo Cayosa III said in an interview with “Sa Totoo Lang” on One PH that the Bank Secrecy Law must be amended to allow dollar accounts to be subpoenaed.
According to Cayosa, excluding dollar accounts from scrutiny could provide unscrupulous public officials the means to hide ill-gotten wealth.
Earlier, 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, the Anti-Money Laundering Council revealed on April 22.
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua said the bank transactions were not reflected in the Vice President’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALNs.
