Ridon: VP Duterte’s subpoenaed records to verify if wealth matches SALN
MANILA, Philippines – The subpoenaed bank and tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, will help determine whether the couple’s declared wealth is consistent with their lawful income and financial transactions, House prosecutor and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said Saturday.
Ridon said the documents will allow prosecutors to compare three sets of financial information that lie at the heart of the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth.
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These include the Duterte-Carpio couple’s income after taxes, Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and the transactions reflected in Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reports and the subpoenaed bank records.
“Yun pong tax records, dito po natin makikita ’yun pong sum total nung income net of taxes. Ibig sabihin, lahat po ng kita ng mag-asawang Duterte-Carpio, nang nabayaran na po lahat ng buwis,” Ridon said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Hotel in Quezon City.
“Ibig sabihin, ito ay malinis na pera na po ng mag-asawa over that particular course of time,” added Ridon, who also chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts.
He said the prosecution intends to compare the couple’s after-tax income with Duterte’s declared net worth of P88.5 million in her 2024 SALN, the AMLC’s reported P6.7 billion in financial transactions, and the amounts reflected in the subpoenaed bank records.
“Kailangan muna natin ibangga ito pong income net of taxes, ’yung malinis na kita, malinis na pera, doon po sa nakatakdang mga kayamanan sa kanyang SALN, which is P88.5 million for 2024, at doon po sa mga AMLC reporting na P6.7 billion, at kung anuman po ’yung makikita natin sa bank account,” he said.
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According to Ridon, any significant discrepancy among those figures would raise serious questions about the source of Duterte’s wealth.
He added that the bank records would corroborate the AMLC’s findings by revealing the accounts and transactions underlying the agency’s report.
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“The opening ng bank accounts ng mag-asawang Duterte-Carpio at ang kanila pong mga kumpanya will be confirmatory to the reporting that has been made by the AMLC on the transactions made by the Duterte-Carpio couple,” he said.
He said examining the account statements could indicate whether Duterte possesses unexplained wealth.
“’Yung pagsilip doon po sa lahat ng mga sinabing bank accounts, their statement of accounts, and ’yung iba pa, ay pwede ho makapagbigay ng indikasyon kung talaga bang may tagong-yaman, unexplained wealth ng ating pong Pangalawang Pangulo,” Ridon said.
Ridon also said the records could determine whether Duterte accurately disclosed her cash holdings in her SALNs.
He noted that Duterte’s SALNs from 2019 to 2024 contained no separate line item for “cash in bank” or “cash on hand.”
“Doon din po natin makikita kung within the span of 2019 to 2024, wala ba talagang cash in bank ang ating pong Pangalawang Pangulo? Kasi nakita ho natin sa SALN ng ating pong Pangalawang Pangulo from 2019 to 2024, wala pong naka-indicate doon line item para sa cash in bank, cash on hand,” he said.
Ridon rejected claims that any cash holdings could simply be reported under the “Others” category.
“Ang paliwanag po nila, naka-lump daw po ito sa ‘Others,’ but again, we have to go back to the SALN law itself. Kailangan po ng very specific line item para sa cash dito po sa mga SALNs na isinusumite,” he said.
The Senate impeachment court earlier granted the prosecution’s request to subpoena the Duterte-Carpio couple’s bank and tax records as part of the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth.
The prosecution expects the AMLC and bank records to be submitted by July 30, while the release of the tax documents remains subject to the conditions imposed by the court. /jpv