P817.87-M challenge hangs over Sara defense

Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team has yet to directly challenge the prosecution’s P817.87-million estimate of her alleged unexplained wealth, and its first week of witness presentations exposed gaps in its documentary evidence, an Ateneo de Manila University political science professor said.

Arjan Aguirre, assistant professor at Ateneo’s Department of Political Science, said the defense had presented specific explanations for properties and financial transactions but had yet to offer its own financial computation to dispute the prosecution’s findings.

“I have yet to hear something about kung paano nila ma-explain yung P817M na presented sa atin ni Tony Cabrera,” Aguirre said in an interview.

“If I were part of the defense, i-advise ko mag-general tayo kasi lakas ng impact ng Cabrera’s statement. May sariling computation si Atty. Cabrera. They should have come up with their own computation as a counter to that P817M,” he added.

The prosecution had presented Cabrera’s financial analysis to support its allegations that Duterte accumulated wealth that could not be sufficiently accounted for by her declared income and assets. The P817.87-million figure became a key element of the prosecution’s case under Article II of the impeachment complaint.

Aguirre acknowledged that the defense had scored some points by establishing the existence of certain properties and presenting alternative explanations for individual transactions.