Mans Carpio says his personal expenses were included in VP Sara impeachment trial

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The husband of Vice President Sara Duterte said that some of the expenditures discussed at her impeachment trial involved his own money and should not have been included.

In a statement on Sunday Carpio, a lawyer, said that the expenses involved his own credit card expenses and had nothing to do with Duterte or her office.

“There is nothing illegal about spending my own hard-earned money. No public funds were used for these personal expenses,” Carpio said.

Carpio referred in particular to three expenditures mentioned at the trial: in Japan, in Malaysia, and involving Nike.

“The expenses in Japan were incurred during a trip with a large group. Since many of us did not have cash on hand at the time, I used my credit card to settle the expenses, and we shared the cost among ourselves,” he said, adding that he used his credit card because the participants did not have cash on hand.

Payments made in Kuala Lumpur were for junior basketball players who won a championship, Carpio added, while Nike purchases were made to benefit senior basketball players.

“These were personal expenditures made with my own money for specific purposes. They should not be misrepresented as expenses of Vice President Sara Duterte or linked to her official functions,” he said.

The expenses were detailed during the portion of the impeachment trial that covered alleged unexplained wealth of the Vice President, with some business interests and financial matters linked to Carpio included due to their being married.

The prosecution said that Duterte and Carpio's income does not match their declared net worth, including the amounts listed in Duterte's Statements of Accounts, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).

Duterte is being tried on three counts: Article I, alleging the misuse of confidential funds; Article II, on unexplained wealth; and Article IV, on grave threats.

A fourth count—Article 3, alleging bribery of public officials—was dropped by the prosecution to speed up the conduct of the trial. — BM, GMA News