P10-M SALN entry fails to settle P6-M Matina property dispute

The defense on Thursday sought to link a P10 million property declared under Manases Carpio’s name in Vice President Sara Duterte’s 2024 SALN to the P6 million Matina property the prosecution says was not disclosed, but the Davao City register of deeds stopped short of confirming they were the same asset.

Defense lawyer Lindon Bacquel pressed Davao City Register of Deeds Kathy Florence Baldonado on the SALN entry, pointing to a matching assessed value and the defense’s claim that the property’s location, Barangay 74-A, corresponds to Matina Crossing.

But Baldonado said she could verify only the land records and had no personal knowledge of Duterte’s SALNs or whether the property had been declared.

“Pero hindi po ako ang tamang tao na makaka-determine kung naideclare ba siya o hindi,” Baldonado told the impeachment court.

The prosecution has presented records for a 379-square-meter property in Matina that Carpio bought for P6 million on July 2, 2024. The title is registered to Carpio, married to Duterte, and shows that the couple later mortgaged the property for P8 million.

Baldonado acknowledged that the assessed value reflected in the tax declaration for the Matina property matched the assessed value of the P10 million property entry under Carpio’s name in Duterte’s 2024 SALN.

That, however, did not establish that the two entries referred to the same property.

Bacquel also challenged the basis for Baldonado’s testimony on the SALN, noting that she had no personal knowledge of Duterte’s financial disclosures.

The prosecution countered that Baldonado was not being asked to determine whether Duterte complied with the SALN requirement. Prosecutor Keith Flores said her role was to establish whether the details in the property records appeared among the properties listed in the SALN.

The defense then turned to geography. Bacquel maintained that Matina Crossing is also identified as Barangay 74-A, which appears as the location of the P10 million property in the SALN. Baldonado said she was not personally aware of that designation.

Flores disputed the implication that the barangay reference established the property’s identity, saying Matina is a general area encompassing several barangays.

The value of the property also became a point of dispute. The deed of sale puts the purchase price at P6 million, while the 2024 SALN lists a P10 million property under Carpio’s name.

The tax declaration presented in court showed a market value of P1.86 million for the land and P6.99 million for the building, or about P8.86 million combined.

The defense used those figures to explain why the SALN value could be higher than the purchase price, including the value of improvements and transaction-related costs.

On redirect, Flores asked Baldonado whether buyers sometimes declare a lower purchase price to avoid paying the correct taxes.

“I don’t know, sir,” Baldonado replied.

The prosecution has maintained that the P6 million Matina property does not directly match any property declared in Duterte’s SALNs. Baldonado earlier testified that, based on the records presented to her, “nothing matched” in terms of price, place or mode of acquisition.

Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero also said he did not find the Matina property as such in Duterte’s 2025 SALN.

“The Court, the Presiding Officer, has looked into the SALN of the Vice President in 2025 and does not find this particular property as one of the real properties declared,” Escudero said.

Escudero, however, noted that SALNs do not require the exact area of a property to be stated, making a direct comparison of property descriptions more difficult.