Escudero flags gap between Duterte-Carpio net worth, bank transactions

The declared net worth of Vice President Sara Duterte and Atty. Manases Carpio paled in comparison with the transactions recorded in their respective bank accounts from 2007 to 2025, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero pointed out Tuesday.

Escudero, the presiding officer of the impeachment proceedings, raised the comparison during his interpellation of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Atty. Ronel Buenaventura.

Escudero began with the net worth declared by Duterte in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) from 2022 to 2025, which totaled P336 million.

He compared this with the P424.17 million in transactions reflected in AMLC reports involving the bank accounts of the Duterte-Carpio couple during the same period.

“On the assumption that they had not spent anything from their assets and they deposited it all to the bank, it still lacks in comparison to the large amount,” Escudero said.

Asked to interpret the figures, Buenaventura explained that the AMLC's figures were based solely on information submitted by banks.

The AMLC director further explained that a SALN reflected the total assets of a public official at the end of a given year.

“In one year, these transactions are not necessarily made just one time, this is spread out as reported to us,” he said.

Escudero, however, pressed Buenaventura to explain what drove the transactions to P424 million based on the scenario he presented.

The witness admitted that it was difficult for him to explain how the amount had accumulated.

Expanding the comparison, Escudero computed the AMLC-reported transactions and Duterte’s declared net worth from 2007 to 2025.

He noted that an even wider gap could be observed, saying Duterte’s declared net worth would have to be multiplied fivefold to match the P4.4 billion in transactions reported by the AMLC.

“In the realm of possibilities again, can you explain how it could reach that amount, knowing that the highest SALN in 2025 was at P98 million and the lowest SALN in 2007 was at P7 million?” he asked.

“I am unable to explain or answer that, your Honor, just based on the records,” Buenaventura responded. “On top of my head, I find it quite difficult.”

During the impeachment proceedings, Buenaventura explained that covered and suspicious transaction reports were submitted by banking institutions based on transactions involving particular individuals.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, covered transactions include those involving P500,000 or more.

Suspicious transactions, on the other hand, are determined at the discretion of banks and do not necessarily depend on whether a transaction exceeds the prescribed threshold, according to Buenaventura.

He likewise noted that the filing of a report does not necessarily mean a transaction was illegal, with that determination left to the courts.

The report submitted to the impeachment court was also lower than the P6.7 billion in transactions that the AMLC had presented before the House Committee on Justice during the impeachment proceedings.

Buenaventura previously explained before the Senate that corrections had been made to the AMLC’s findings before they were submitted to the court, including a P2-billion transaction recorded in Carpio’s BPI account.