Ridon: Sara must explain alleged P50M ‘wealth gap’

Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said on Saturday, March 14, that Vice President Sara Duterte may be ordered to produce financial records to clarify an alleged P50-million discrepancy between her declared net worth and estimated cumulative government earnings.

Ridon, a member of the House Committee on Justice, said lawmakers could subpoena Vice President Duterte’s income tax returns, bank records, Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) and business registrations as part of the impeachment proceedings against her.

“We will not just subpoena the SALNs … we will also undertake subpoenas for the couple’s income tax returns, bank records and SEC registration of all the businesses listed in the Vice President’s 2023 and 2024 SALNs,” Ridon said.

Ridon explained that Duterte’s net worth, which she declared at about P7.25 million when she was Davao City vice mayor in 2007, had grown to roughly P88 million in 2024. By contrast, the lawmaker estimated her total government salaries from 2007 to 2024 would amount to about P30 million to P40 million.

“So, what needs to be explained by the Vice President is the gap between P30 million to P40 million and the P88 million net worth that [was] submitted in 2024,” Ridon said, adding that the difference could also be explained by lawful income from professional or business interests.

According to the panel’s calculations cited by Ridon, businesses and professional activities listed in Duterte’s SALNs would need to have generated between P200 million and P400 million in revenue over 17 years to account for the gap.

Ridon said the impeachment proceedings would give Duterte an opportunity to “actually explain that particular P50-million gap.”

Duterte’s lawyers, however, declined detailed comment, saying only that they would “respond at the appropriate time.”

The timing of formal hearings on the impeachment complaints hinges on whether the Vice President files her written response by March 16, Ridon added.

If she does, the justice panel could begin hearings by April 8, he said. If not, the proceedings could start “as early as next week.”

Duterte has publicly rejected the impeachment complaints as politically motivated, calling them a “fishing expedition” and saying continued attacks amid global tensions are an “insult” to overseas Filipino workers and others affected by the crisis.