An official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said several companies linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, had no recorded dividend declarations and, in some cases, failed to submit audited financial statements.

Lawyer Gerardo del Rosario, director of the SEC’s Company Registration and Monitoring Department, authenticated the records of companies on which Duterte or Carpio were listed as shareholders. Del Rosario confirmed that 18 of the firms had made no formal declaration of dividends.

Discussing Duterte’s reported ownership of a 20-percent stake in Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Del Rosario explained that dividends were portions of a corporation’s profits from retained earnings that may be distributed to shareholders.

“A dividend is a profit that was given to shareholders,” Del Rosario said.

Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero asked whether profits could be distributed to shareholders only after a formal dividend declaration and whether the money remained part of the company’s funds until then. Del Rosario answered in the affirmative to both questions.

The SEC official said Carpio Lawyers, Amianan Shores, Davao Bounty Times Food Corp. and 3Kids Trucking Services Inc. had not submitted audited financial statements.

Escudero noted, and Del Rosario confirmed, that without audited financial statements, there would be no basis for those records to determine whether dividends had been earned or declared for Duterte and Carpio.