Prosec agrees: Hard to explain VP Duterte funds even with lumped SALN

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the prosecution panel have agreed with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero that it is hard to explain Vice President Sara Duterte’s financial transactions, even if her net worth across the years were lumped as one.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, counsel for the prosecution Benjamin Tolosa Jr., public prosecutor Manila Rep. Joel Chua, and prosecution spokesperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong were all asked about the questions raised by Escudero and the answers given by AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura regarding the P4.4 million transactions made by Duterte and her relatives.

At one point during Tuesday’s hearing, Escudero said he considered the absurd possibility that Duterte’s net worth, as stated in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) from 2007, were totaled just to make sense of the P4.4 billion transactions, even if this should not be the case.  Buenaventura in response said he also cannot explain how the transactions happened.

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“So sabi nga niya (Escudero), if you’ll consider it, pagsasamahin mo ‘yong mga net worth na dineklara ng bise presidente from 2007 to 2025, that’s P840 million. And from 2022 to 2025, P336 million.  But as explained by him, ‘di mo naman ‘yan pagsasamahin dahil hindi naman nagba-back to zero ‘yong net worth mo per year,” Tolosa told reporters.

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(So he said that (Escudero), if you’ll consider it, combining the net worth declared by the vice president from 2007 to 2025, that’s P840 million. And from 2022 to 2025, P336 million.  But as explained by him, you do not combine your net worth over the years because this figure does not reset to zero every year end.)

“P840 million, P336 (million), hindi pa rin maabot ‘yong total transactions worth P4.4 billion do’n pa lang sa assets nilang mag-asawa.  ‘Pag sinama mo pa ‘yong do’n sa corporations nila na more than P5 billion. So ang naging sagot ng AMLC executive director, hindi ko po maipaliwanag ‘yon.  Well, tulad ng sabi mo, in English, yaman to na we cannot explain,” he added.

(P840 million, P336 (million), it would not reach the total transactions worth P4.4 billion, just based on the assets of the couple.  If you include the assets from corporations then that’s more than P5 billion.  So the AMLC executive director’s answer was that he cannot explain it.  And as you said, in English, that’s wealth that you cannot explain.)

Alonto Adiong also shared the same sentiments, saying that at this point, only Duterte can explain why the figures are such.

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“So in a very clear, simple answer, even the Presiding Officer and AMLC itself cannot even provide that explanation.  Only the vice president supposedly can provide that explanation but she failed to do that over the years — which then explains kung bakit there’s really that attempt to conceal the assets and therefore a clear case of unexplained wealth,” he said.

During the midsection of the trial on Tuesday, Escudero said the sum of Duterte’s net worth from 2022 to 2025 was at P336 million, but it is still short of the transactions recorded during that time — at P424 million.

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“It still did not reach P424 million. Meaning to say, assuming that nothing was spent from all of their assets and everything was deposited in the bank, it still would not reach this amount,” Escudero pointed out.

Escudero then asked Buenavantura how the amount could be explained.  When he saw that the AMLC head was struggling to respond,  Escudero surmised that the witness could not explain the gap. 

Buenaventura agreed, saying that he cannot explain it.

READ: AMLC exec stumped by gap in Sara Duterte SALN vs bank records

The net worth stated by a government official, as declared in his or her SALNs, is a result of financial movements for the year prior — be it acquisition of solid or liquid assets, loans, and other monetary changes.  This means that the net worth for a current year has a direct correlation to the net worth stated in the previous year — and must not be taken as numbers that can be added together.

Moreover, Chua explained that Escudero’s hypothesis — lumping Duterte’s net worth for different years all together — means that non-cash assets like vehicles, real estate, jewelry, furniture, and other hard assets were considered.

In contrast, Chua noted that the AMLC’s report on the covered and suspicious transactions totaling to P4.4 billion only involved cash movements — indicating that the actual net worth could be higher.

“Dapat tandaan din natin na ang SALN, halo-halo ‘yan, so ibig sabihin ‘pag sinabi mong halo-halo, nandirito na ‘yong real estate, cash, pati ‘yong mga, let’s say mga sasakyan, jewelry, furniture, and fixtures, and so forth and so on.  ‘Yong sa AMLC na sinasabi na P4.4 billion, cash lang ‘yon, hindi po kasama do’n ‘yong ibang asset,” he said.

(We should remember that inside SALNs are a mix of assets, so by saying it is a mixture, you have real estate, cash, including vehicles, jewelry, furniture, and fixtures, and so on and so forth.  But the AMLC’s report of a P4.4 billion transaction, that’s only cash, it does not include other assets.)

“So ‘yong transaction na ‘yon ay transaction na pera, hindi po transaction na kasama ‘yong mga lupa, hindi po kasama do’n.  Pero do’n po sa ginawang explanation po o sample ng ating presiding officer, sinama na nga niya lahat eh […] ibig sabihin sinama niya dito pati ‘yong lupa, bahay, sasakyan, jewelry, baril, lahat na, sinama niya.  And yet hindi pa rin aabot kahit man lamang kalahati or kahit man lamang one-fourth,” he added.

(So the transactions listed only involve cash, it does not include land and others.  But with the explanation or example made by our presiding officer, he even included everything […] including lands, real estate, vehicles, jewelry, firearms, everything.  And yet it would not even reach half or one-fourth of the transactions.)

Duterte is being tried before the Senate Impeachment Court over four main allegations.  As of now, the prosecution is presenting evidence of Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which focuses on her alleged unexplained wealth and her supposed failure to disclose these in her SALNs.

However, Adiong also said that the issues against Duterte have gone beyond mere non-declaration in her SALNs, as he believes it has already escalated to a national security concern.

Adiong was referring to the AMLC’s confirmation of financial transactions moving from accounts in China towards CALE88 Foods Corporation — a company owned by Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

READ: Duterte’s issues beyond SALN, now a national security concern

Last Friday, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that CALE88 received over P319 million worth of funds from China-based companies and the Chinese government itself.

On Monday, upon the questioning of counsel for prosecution Mae Divinagracia, Buenaventura released reports showing that they recorded P319,326,770.41 worth of inward transactions coming from either the mainland China or Hong Kong, towards CALE88 — confirming Trillanes’ claims.

Duterte’s lawyers were able to secure confirmation from AMLC that there was no document showing the Chinese government’s involvement with companies that sent funds to CALE88.

However, Hontiveros eventually noted that her team studied the background of the two companies that transacted with CALE88 — China National Township Enterprises and the Beijing Jianweifang Food Company — revealing possible ties to the Chinese government.

READ: Defense cites no China gov’t ties to CALE88; Hontiveros says firms state-linked

Based on their research, Hontiveros said that China National Township Enterprises used to be directly under China’s Ministry of Agriculture, being a state-owned agricultural enterprise.

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Meanwhile, the senator-judge said Beijing Jianweifang Food Company is owned by the Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group, which in turn is a Chinese state-owned enterprise. /jpv