Mans Carpio files suit vs clergy, finance execs
Lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, sued three priests, three nuns, a Protestant pastor and several others for besmirching his “unsullied reputation” when they filed a corruption lawsuit over the billions the couple allegedly amassed over 21 years.
Carpio also charged officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and several lawmakers for illegally disclosing to a congressional investigation official financial records covering 33 suspicious transactions and 630 covered dealings worth P6.7 billion from 2005 to 2026.
Carpio lodged the P7.3 million civil suit before the Davao City Regional Trial Court on April 29 against priest Joel Saballa, self-proclaimed bagman Ramil Madriaga, and several “co-conspirators, confederators, cooperators, and connivers.”
The Davao City complaint followed the lawsuit Carpio filed in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on April 27 against the AMLC officials and lawmakers over the disclosure of the couple’s financial records to a panel of the House of Representatives which has since approved articles of impeachment against the vice president.
Named in the complaint were priests Joselito Sarabia, Edilberto Baculi, and Rogelio del Rosario; Pastor Leonard Arevalo; nuns Ma. Liza Ruedas, Violeta Cecilio, and Geraldine Denoga. The other respondents are Pinky Tam; Maria Loreto Lopez; lawyers Jalilo dela Torre, Democrito Barcenas and Lourdes Barcenas and Madriaga.
Emotional suffering
In his 15-page complaint, Carpio claimed that the defendants’ move to impeach Duterte “indirectly” destroyed his “unsullied reputation” and caused his suffering of “grave physical harm, suffering, fright, serious anxiety, sleepless nights, wounded feelings, besmirched reputation and similar injury.”
Carpio claimed that the respondents should be held liable for acting “with utmost bad faith” in filing the impeachment complaint and causing irreparable damage to his law practice and loss in income.
He is seeking P3 million in moral and exemplary damages from each of the respondents and P1 million in actual damages. Carpio is also asking for P300,000 to cover the attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.
Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, the lawyer of the priests and nuns, told the Inquirer that Carpio’s complaint was a “desperate” move.
Desperate move
“They are now running after our priests and nuns … That is how desperate they are,” Ligutan said.
“What our priests and nuns did was to exercise their constitutional right to exact accountability from the second highest official of the land.”
But Carpio argued that the impeachment complaints are made to “stop and disqualify” Duterte from running in the 2028 elections. If convicted, Duterte will be removed from office and barred from holding any public post.
On Wednesday, Carpio impleaded Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Francis Lim and Insurance Commission Chair Reynaldo Regalado in his complaint against the AMLC officials.
The officials of the regulatory bodies, who form part of the AMLC, are being accused of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Bank Secrecy Law, and the Data Privacy Act.
Already named in the initial complaint were Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor and AMLC Chair Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC executive director Ronel Buenaventura, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, Akbayan Representatives Percival Cendana and Jose Manuel Diokno, and Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima as well as several John and Jane does.
In filing an addendum to the respondents, Carpio is seeking the issuance of subpoenas against Lim and Regalado as he maintains there exists a “prima facie evidence to charge the respondents for the unauthorized revelation of AMLC reports.”
The alleged violations stem from the April 22 hearing of the House justice committee, wherein Buenaventura bared to lawmakers that banks flagged 33 suspicious transactions and 630 covered dealings worth P6.7 billion from 2005 to 2026. These, he noted, were traced to bank accounts under Duterte and Carpio.
But Carpio accused Remolona, the lawmakers and the rest of the respondents, of conniving to “leak” the bank transactions, which include insurance payments, time deposits, investments and utility bills, which he said was illegal under the law.
A preliminary investigation hearing on the case is scheduled on May 15 and May 29.
