Lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, will file criminal complaints on Monday before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office against top financial regulators and several lawmakers over the public disclosure of alleged bank records and financial transaction reports linked to him and the Vice President.
Named as respondents were Eli M. Remolona Jr., governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Ronel Buenaventura, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council; and members of the House Committee on Justice, including Representatives Gerville Luistro, Percival Cendaña, Chel Diokno and Leila de Lima.
The complaint, a copy of which was secured by DAILY TRIBUNE, alleged violations of Republic Act (RA) 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act, RA 1405, or the Bank Secrecy Law, and RA 10173, or the Data Privacy Act.
Carpio accused the respondents of “conniving” to unlawfully disclose confidential financial information during House hearings conducted on 14 and 22 April in connection with the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
According to the complaint-affidavit, AMLC reports containing alleged covered and suspicious transactions involving Duterte and Carpio from 2006 to 2025 were ordered produced through a subpoena duces tecum and later discussed during open proceedings.
The complaint claimed the disclosures included information on bank transactions, deposits, investments, insurance payments and utility bill records allegedly linked to the couple.
Carpio argued that such information is protected by strict confidentiality provisions under banking and anti-money laundering laws and cannot be disclosed without consent or lawful authority.
“Congress itself enacted Section 8A of AMLA prohibiting disclosure in any manner of any reports of banks submitted to AMLC,” Carpio said. “There is no exception. The prohibition is absolute.”
Carpio’s legal counsel, Peter Paul Danao, said the complaint was filed not only to defend the Vice President and her family but also to protect public confidence in the country’s banking system.
“We are filing this complaint because the law clearly prohibits and penalizes these disclosures,” Danao said in Filipino.
The complaint alleged that the disclosure of the records was used for “political harassment and black propaganda” against Duterte ahead of the 2028 elections.
“AMLC is being weaponized to the max even if illegal and contrary to law, for pure black propaganda with a view to the 2028 national election,” Carpio said.
Earlier House proceedings disclosed that AMLC records allegedly showed transactions involving Duterte and Carpio amounting to approximately P6.7 billion between 2006 and 2025.
The AMLC earlier said the documents formed part of submissions requested by lawmakers in connection with impeachment-related hearings.
House members have maintained that the records were obtained under legal exceptions tied to impeachment proceedings, while Carpio’s camp argued that the disclosures exceeded constitutional and statutory limits on financial privacy.
Under Philippine law, violations of AMLA confidentiality provisions, bank secrecy laws, and the Data Privacy Act may carry prison terms and substantial fines.