Net worth spikes happen, Ombudsman witness says as Sara’s SALN rises from P7.2M to P98.7M

Increases in annual net worth are common for public officials, a witness from the Ombudsman told the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday, after the prosecution showed a drastic increase in Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) from P7.2 million in 2007 to P98.7 million in 2025.

Atty. Karen Batu of the Central Records Division of the Ombudsman said that while fluctuations are expected in SALNs, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re acquired by unlawful means.

Her remarks came in response to a query from Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo on whether the Ombudsman flags steep increases in a public official’s SALNs as potentially “against the law.”

“In my opinion, there has really been an increase in our SALNs,” she responded in Filipino.

Batu explained that changes in net worth could be attributed to legitimate transactions, such as when an official sells a property, provided those alterations are properly declared.

In this event, she said the asset will be automatically removed from the real property section of the official’s SALN, but the proceeds will be reflected in other categories, which will see an augmentation.

The VP’s SALNs showed that she did not declare any cash on hand or in the bank from 2019 to 2025, although her other personal properties totaled P5.3 million from 2019 to 2022, her last year in office as Davao City mayor.

In 2023, or a year after she assumed the vice presidency, her personal properties grew to P6.6 million, went down to P5.8 million in 2024, and rose sharply to P16.2 million in 2025.

Tulfo asked whether a public official having zero cash on hand at the time of accomplishing his or her SALN is a common occurrence, to which Batu replied: “That could really happen.”

Duterte’s SALN showed her cash on hand and in the bank were fixed at P2 million in 2007 and 2008, covering her first two years in office as Davao City vice mayor.

It slightly increased to P2.8 million in 2008, and jumped to P3.7 million in 2010, the half-period covering her last year as vice mayor before she became the Davao City chief executive in June of the same year.

Her cash on hand and in bank saw a marginal increase in 2011 to P3.9 million, and another in 2012 to P4.3 million.

In 2016, the last year of her second consecutive term as Davao City mayor, her cash on hand and in the bank dropped to P3.7 million, but it almost doubled to P6.4 million the following year.

The amount fell to P3.8 million in 2018, the last time she ever declared cash on hand and in the bank.

Previously, defense lawyer Michael Poa said Duterte lumped her cash on hand and her bank deposits into other categories in her SALN.

This stands in stark contrast, however, to the position of retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, who held that cash on hand and in the bank must be separately declared in the SALN and therefore cannot be lumped together with other personal properties.

Doing so would violate Section 8 of Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Cabotaje-Tang was called by the prosecution as an expert witness to Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment.

Article 2 accuses Duterte of acquiring unexplained wealth, discrepancies in her SALN, and being non-compliant with the mandatory divestment of business interests, which the prosecutors argued breached public trust and therefore constituted an impeachable offense.

Records showed that Duterte’s net worth more than doubled in a span of three years—from P7.2 million in 2007 to P16.2 million in 2010—after entering politics as Davao City vice mayor.

It fell to P14.3 million in 2011, and inflated to P22.1 million in 2012.

In 2016, her net worth jumped to P34.9 million and, since then, it has bloated to P44.8 million in 2017, P49.7 million in 2019, P55.6 million in 2019, P56.7 million in 2020, and P65.3 million in 2021.

Months before she assumed the vice presidency in 2022, Duterte’s net worth grew to P71.7 million and rose to P77.6 million in 2023, P88.6 million in 2024, and P98.7 million in 2025.

Defense lawyer Justin Gular objected to the prosecution’s bid to present Duterte’s SALN from 2007 to 20021, calling it irrelevant and inadmissible to the impeachment court because it covers the periods when Duterte was still in local office, which he contended was not an impeachable office.

Presiding Officer Chiz, however, ruled that the past SALNs are necessary to establish the baseline or reference point for allegations of Duterte’s unexplained wealth, although he noted that the documents would not form additional charges beyond the four pending before the impeachment court.