VP Duterte's bank, tax docs best defense vs unexplained wealth claims – Tolosa

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte should let her lawyers present her bank and tax records before the Senate impeachment court, as they would be her defense against the accusation that she had amassed unexplained wealth. Lawyer Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., House prosecution spokesperson and private prosecutor, made that proposal on Sunday in an interview over AM radio DZBB’s “Bantay Balita sa Kongreso.” Those records, Tolosa pointed out, would best counter the findings of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that she had misrepresented her wealth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. “So if they really want to prove that the amounts in their bank records or account in this period were not that big, shouldn’t they themselves show their bank records?” Tolosa said in Filipino. He also pointed out that the prosecution was not seeking a general inquiry into all of Duterte’s bank accounts. Rather, it was merely asking the Senate impeachment court to subpoena specific accounts already identified in AMLC reports, complete with the corresponding account numbers and branch information. Tolosa recalled that, during the clarificatory hearings of the House committee on justice, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified that reports reflected P6.7 billion in covered and suspicious transactions involving the bank accounts of Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, from 2005 to 2026. In response, the vice president’s camp claimed that the amount was inflated because it could have included repeated deposits and withdrawals or transfers between Duterte’s own bank accounts. Tolosa argued, however, that those explanations made disclosing the actual bank records even more important. “Now, those are what will give proof of what the bank accounts really contained in the same period,” he said. Tolosa stressed the prosecution’s position that Duterte did not fully disclose her assets in her SALNs, considering the billions of pesos disparity between the transactions reported by the AMLC and Duterte’s declared net worth of P88.5 million in 2024. To determine whether she had unexplained wealth, he said the impeachment court must compare the assets declared in her SALNs with her income tax returns filed with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the AMLC reports, and the balances reflected in her bank records. Only by examining these documents together, he said, can the impeachment court determine whether Duterte’s total wealth was substantially greater than what she declared while in public office. The continued opposition of the defense to releasing the records raises more questions than it answers, Tolosa said. The Senate impeachment court is expected to rule on the prosecution’s motion to subpoena the sealed BIR box containing Duterte’s income tax returns and her bank records on the seventh day of the trial. /atm