House Committee on Justice Chairperson Gerville Luistro said that the complaints from Atty. Mans Carpio, the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, were a mere admission of their P6.7 billion in transactions.
During the previous hearing of the Justice panel on 22 April, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reported that it had flagged 630 large transactions from the bank accounts of Duterte and Carpio from 2005 to 2026.
Under the AMLC, transactions included in its reports are those involving inflows and outflows of funds of P500,000 or above.
Atty. Peter Paul Danao, a member of Carpio’s legal counsel, stated that his client should not have been included in the reports submitted by the council.
Danao stressed that his client was a private individual with rights justified under the Constitution against the unlawful disclosure of personal records.
Luistro, on the other hand, argued that the submission of such a petition merely reaffirmed the AMLC reports, as Carpio was focused on the release of such documents.
“Klaro na hindi tinatanggi ang mga bilyones na nabanggit sa AMLC report,” she said.
(It is clear that the billions in transactions reported by the AMLC were not denied.)
“At tila inaamin na may bilyon-bilyong piso ngang tinatago, at ang tanging reklamo lamang ay–bakit ninyo kami binubulabog,” she added.
(It is as if they admitted that the billions of pesos are really hidden, and the only complaint was why did you uncover it.)
The Justice panel chairperson affirmed that the committee would proceed with its responsibility to hold officials accountable for their actions.
Luistro emphasized that laws such as the Bank Secrecy Law, which were allegedly violated according to Carpio’s complaint, were not meant to shield politicians from carrying out malicious activities like money laundering.
The solon expressed that if the couple really had nothing to hide, there would be no reason to obstruct the legal process of investigating their records.
“The only people who fear the disclosure of these transactions are those with dirty secrets. Transparency is the only response of those with integrity–everything else is just an excuse,” the solon expressed.