VP blasts Trillanes, COA, AMLC
Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday denied that she and her husband had billions of pesos flowing through their bank accounts, lashing back at former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for making the allegation and the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for backing him.
Testifying before the House justice committee hearing on the impeachment complaints against the Vice President, Trillanes said that after he had confirmed an informant’s statement concerning the transactions in the bank accounts of Duterte and her husband, he went public with the information.
In a lengthy press statement, Duterte blasted Trillanes, one of her fiercest critics, for “peddling the same incredible story” about the billions in her bank accounts.
She said nothing had changed in Trillanes’ “narrative” of their supposed hidden wealth for over a decade. “What has changed, however, is the machinery now backing him,” Duterte said.
P6.7B in 600 transactions
In a previous justice committee hearing, COA documents showed that state auditors disallowed a total of P448 million in confidential funds used by the Office of the Vice President (OVP)—P73 million in 2022 and P375 million in 2023—because the money was disbursed by unauthorized staff and allegedly lacked justifications and valid supporting documents.
The P448 million is part of the total P612.5-million confidential funds of the OVP and the Department of Education allegedly misused by Duterte cited in the impeachment complaints against her.
The AMLC, for its part, reported to the justice committee that Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, had over 600 transactions in their accounts that amounted to approximately P6.7 billion from 2005 to 2006. It said that banks flagged at least 33 “suspicious” dealings.
According to Duterte, the COA timed its reports on her use of public funds “in a manner that conveniently aligns with political attacks” against her. At the same time, the newly installed AMLC officials were silent and “refused to clarify” that there had been no finding of violations of the antimoney laundering laws “and the billions of pesos in bank accounts are untrue.”
House ‘law-benders’
Duterte said that in addition to the COA and the AMLC, Trillanes was also being backed by President Marcos and “law-bender” members of the House, who allegedly received “maletas,” a reference to millions of pesos in kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects stashed in luggage used in distributing corruption-tainted funds made popular by former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co.
Duterte, who has refused to participate in the justice committee hearings, issued a blanket denial of any wrongdoing.
“My answer to all the smears is simple. My service record is clean and not once have I been charged with using public funds,” she said.
She insisted that all her properties and money came from “legitimate means” and properly documented and everything was declared in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
“Real thieves will not put money in banks but in luggage,” she said.
“Do not be deceived by this impeachment noise,” Duterte said.
She also said that Mr. Marcos, her former political ally and now nemesis, “must be compelled to submit to a simple drug test.” Mr. Marcos has shown negative results from a drug test at St. Luke’s Medical Center in 2021.
Trillanes said Duterte’s statements were “weightless,” especially in the face of “overwhelming evidence.”
“I’ll let her be,” he told the Inquirer. “But a truly persecuted person would go to great lengths to defend her own reputation and integrity instead of being evasive like what Sara is doing.”
‘Probable cause established’
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, head of the justice committee, on Thursday said that on April 29, the panel would conclude its discussions on the allegations against Duterte, and would vote if there is enough proof to impeach her.
Lawmakers “closely working” with her believe the case should be elevated to the Senate for trial.
“They are very much convinced that probable cause has been established already,” Luistro told reporters via teleconference. “The threshold is low, and only probable cause is being sought.”
“Probable cause is simply a justification to proceed to trial … [and] the strength of the evidence has already surpassed that threshold,” she added.
Duterte, a 47-year-old lawyer, is also alleged to have amassed wealth beyond her declared income. She also is accused of plotting to assassinate the President, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Report may be out May 4
Luistro said the committee would probably vote by the end of the April 29 hearing and its report may be available on May 4.
“If the voting concludes on April 29, we will resume perhaps in the morning of May 4 to vote on the report and the attached resolution, including the articles of impeachment if probable cause is affirmed,” she said.
She said the decisions and notices of disallowances were “sufficient to establish probable cause” even without the testimony of Ramil Madriaga, the confessed bagman for Duterte who told the committee that he distributed P125 million in Duterte’s confidential funds within a 24-hour period in December 2022.
Madriaga also signed a waiver to bank secrecy, opening all his bank accounts to investigators. He told lawmakers he acted as a bank “dummy” for former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President’s father.
The tax files of Duterte and her husband, which were submitted to the committee by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), should be scrutinized as part of impeachment proceedings, committee member and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said.
Ridon said Duterte’s income tax returns (ITR) were not covered by the bank secrecy law as the justice committee’s hearings were part of an exercise of constitutional powers, giving the proceedings immunity over procedural guidelines.
“We are talking about a public official under impeachment proceedings,” he said in a teleconference. “So there is no reason (for these) not to be seen, read, or shared with the public.”
According to the AMLC’s summary report on the P6.7 billion worth of transactions in the Duterte-Carpio couple’s accounts, about P4.42 billion flowed in and P1.55 billion flowed out. Around P791 million wasn’t verified as either an inflow or an outflow.
No cash declaration
Duterte’s net worth records also showed she declared no cash on hand or in bank from 2019 to 2024, despite her wealth steadily increasing throughout the years as a public official.
In 2007, Duterte reported a net worth of P7.25 million, rising to P71.06 million by 2022, when she was elected the nation’s second-highest official. Her assets climbed further to P88.51 million in 2024.
“The truth is, even without the ITR, the evidence yesterday is already explosive,” Ridon said.
BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza said the tax code bars disclosure of an individual’s tax information unless they consent to make it public or it is presented in an executive session.
The House committee on justice decided to keep the box sealed, with signatures affixed by Mendoza to ensure it would not be tampered with during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Ridon said he would vote to unseal it next week and hoped that it would be the committee’s position.
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