Mans Carpio not an ordinary citizen — solons

Members of the House Committee on Justice maintained that Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, could no longer be considered an “ordinary citizen” based on his marriage to a high-ranking official.

This notion, which was mentioned by a member of Carpio’s legal counsel Atty. Peter Paul Danao, supposedly served as a basis for the complaint filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, April 28.

Danao said that his client questioned why his personal records were being dragged into the impeachment proceedings of Duterte through the presentation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) report on suspicious and covered transactions of the couple.

“Kung kayo na simpleng tao, bigla na lang lumabas ang kaluluwa ninyo since birth, hindi ba kayo aalma?” the lawyer openly asked concerning the disclosure of his client’s bank transactions from 2006 to 2025.

However, Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon expressed that Carpio and his records were involved in the evidence presented before the Justice panel by virtue of his relationship with Duterte.

Diokno, who was tagged as one of the respondents in the petition submitted, noted that the properties of a married couple are considered conjugal or communal under Philippine law, warranting such investigations into either individual's records, particularly when it comes to their resources.

“Ang pag-aari kasi ng mag-asawa ay communal yan eh, sa ilalim ng batas natin hindi naman natin hinihiwalay yun. So, pag tinignan natin yung assets at liabilities ni Vice President, of course that would have to include yung sa kanyang asawa,” he explained during an online interview this Tuesday.

(The resources of a couple are communal, under law those resources are not separated. So, if you look at the assets and liabilities of the Vice President, of course that would have her husband as well)

“Iba yung sitwasyon if he was just an ordinary individual na wala namang kinalaman sa Vice President, pero mag-asawa nga sila eh,” he added.

(The situation would be different if he was just an ordinary individual that had no relationship with the Vice President, but they are married)

Ridon, on the other hand, posited that Duterte and Carpio were jointly filing their income tax return records with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The lawmaker also raised an issue with considering a high-ranking official’s spouse as a separate entity, noting that such a precedent could allow individuals to carry out malicious practices through their significant other, as no evidence could be gathered from those transactions.

“Kung ganyan yung posisyon niyo, edi lahat po ng mga ilegal halimbawa na transaksyon ng isang mataas na opisyal ay ilalagay ko na lang ho sa asawa ko dahil hindi yan pwede silipin dahil ordinaryong mamamayan lang ho,” he stated.

(If that is your position, then a high-ranking official could just theoretically conduct all their illegal transactions through their spouse since investigators would not be allowed to open the records because they are an ordinary citizen)

Under Articles 116 and 117 of the Family Code of the Philippines, properties and assets acquired during marriage wherein a couple shares funds, unless otherwise declared as exclusive to one spouse, will automatically be classified as conjugal property.

Barring a prompt resolution on the matter by the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, the Justice panel is set to conduct its final hearing into the determination of probable cause on the impeachment complaints against the Vice President on Wednesday, April 29.

There, discussions will include the verbal threats issued by Duterte towards President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez through a video that has since circulated on social media.

The committee is also set to decide whether it will open the sealed box of tax records from the couple, which was deferred due to potential legal violations under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC).

Committee on Justice members are also expected to vote on the determination of probable cause of the impeachment complaints in order to have the articles of impeachment presented to the House Plenary.