Manases Carpio, the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, has filed a criminal perjury complaint against former Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV over allegations linking him to a P111-million bank account and illegal drug money.
The complaint, filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Pasig City, stems from an 11-page notarized statement Trillanes presented on 22 April during a House Committee on Justice impeachment inquiry against the Vice President.
In that statement, Trillanes claimed Carpio and his wife held joint bank accounts containing P111,634,144.05 as of April 2016. He further alleged the funds were tied to transactions with drug personalities, specifically naming a person identified as Sammy Uy.
Carpio called the accusations false, malicious and “pure black propaganda” aimed at destroying his family’s reputation.
“To reiterate, I do not have P100 million in my bank accounts,” Carpio said in the complaint affidavit.
“I have vehemently denied before and again any involvement in any drugs in any way and form. I deny receiving any drug money or proceeds of drug transactions from any alleged drug personality,” it added.
To support his defense, Carpio cited a 2017 Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report and a 2018 Ombudsman fact-finding investigation.
Both investigations cleared Carpio and his brother-in-law, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte, of similar drug-smuggling allegations, citing a lack of evidence and reliance on hearsay.
The complaint alleges that Trillanes fulfilled all legal elements of perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, which carries increased prison penalties for public officers.
Carpio argued that Trillanes willfully made deliberate assertions of falsehood regarding a material matter while under oath before a competent officer.
Invoking a Supreme Court precedent, Carpio noted that individuals can be held criminally liable for perjury when making sweeping, sworn accusations during impeachment proceedings that rely on hearsay rather than personal knowledge or authentic records.
“Worse, they are nothing but hearsay and double hearsay statements,” Carpio said, adding that Trillanes failed to provide evidence that the alleged bank accounts exist or that the funds came from illicit sources.
Carpio said the former senator’s allegations were intended to smear his and the Duterte family’s name, honor and integrity, driven by “political malice, evident bad faith and evil motive.”
The complaint-affidavit was officially subscribed and sworn in Pasig City, where Trillanes originally notarized his testimony, establishing the local prosecutor’s jurisdiction over the case.
