Sara Duterte impeachment trial: VP has 22 firearms, says witness

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Vice President Sara Duterte owns at least 22 firearms, including a shotgun and five rifles, a prosecution witness said Monday.

Police Major Jerickson Sangalang, Records Division chief of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO), made the testimony during the Day 30 of the impeachment trial of the Vice President during the direct examination of House prosecutor Belle Zamora of San Juan.

Sangalang said the Vice President has 22 firearms consisting of:

• 14 pistols
• two revolvers
• five rifles, of which three are Class A light weapons
• one shotgun

“These are worth P2.184 million,” Sangalang said of the worth of the guns based on market survey.

He also said that the Vice President’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, owns 29 firearms, including one expired firearm:

• 16 pistols
• two revolvers
• one shotgun
• 10 rifles, of which one is a Class A light weapon

The PNP official said the total worth of Carpio’s firearms is at least P5 million.

Sangalang is one of the witnesses of the prosecution for Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment which accuses the Vice President of accumulating unexplained wealth through the following:

• failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; and
• failure to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The prosecution offered Sangalang's testimony to prove:

• that the respondent Vice President Duterte and her husband possess Licenses to Own and Possess Firearms ("LTOPF") Type 5, and are classified as "Certified Gun Collectors"
• that the Vice President and her husband maintain a hobby in gun collecting by owning, possessing, and maintaining more than 50 firearms, which includes pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns with total value of at least P7 million and
• to prove other relevant allegations and to identify and authenticate relevant documents