Panelo flags ‘misleading’ AMLC raw data in impeach trial

The defense of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday questioned the reliability of Anti-Money Laundering Council records presented in her impeachment trial, saying raw financial data could be misleading without proper verification and context.

Vice presidential spokesperson Paolo A. Panelo raised the issue after the Senate impeachment court allowed AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura to testify on bank transactions involving Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio and businesses linked to them.

“That’s what we are saying why AMLC raw data cannot just be shared suddenly because you need to verify it, you need to know the context of the transactions before you disclose it,” Panelo told reporters.

Panelo said the defense had sought to exclude the AMLC records because of the confidentiality requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, arguing that the law does not expressly create an impeachment exception.

He also pointed to a significant discrepancy between the ₱6.7 billion in transactions previously presented during House proceedings and the ₱4.4 billion figure cited by the prosecution before the Senate impeachment court.

Panelo attributed the difference to what he described as a bank-reporting error involving Bank of the Philippine Islands, saying a transaction worth about ₱2.2 billion had allegedly been mistakenly reported instead of about ₱2 million.

“It’s not fatal or anything, it’s just a demonstration of how raw data from the AMLC can be misleading or inaccurate,” Panelo said.

He argued that the proper process should first involve an AMLC investigation of suspicious or covered transactions, coordination with banks and the preparation of an intelligence report before information is used to support a complaint.

He said the AMLC could then file or endorse a complaint with the Ombudsman, which could in turn pursue an impeachment complaint if warranted.

Panelo also rejected the notion that the transaction figures, even at ₱4.4 billion, necessarily showed Duterte was a billionaire.

“To say that even ₱4.4 billion transactions, the impression to people is that the Vice President is a billionaire, but that is not the truth,” he said.

Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero earlier allowed Buenaventura to testify, ruling that the confidentiality provision does not prevent the AMLC from performing its investigative and litigation functions or complying with a lawful and particularized subpoena subject to judicial safeguards.

The AMLC had reported in April that transactions classified as covered and suspicious involving Duterte and Carpio totaled about ₱6.77 billion from 2006 to 2025. Of this, ₱3.77 billion was linked to Duterte and ₱2.99 billion to Carpio.