Metro Manila, Philippines – Former senator Sonny Trillanes questioned a P96-million withdrawal he alleged was made in a single day from a joint bank account of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
In his Friday briefing, Trillanes presented what he described as records of financial transactions involving the Duterte family, including four withdrawals of P20 million each and another withdrawal of more than P16.8 million.
“Ang biggest withdrawal in one day doon sa transaction na doon sa accounts na iyon ay worth P96 million,” Trillanes said.
[Translation: The biggest withdrawal in one day from the transactions in those accounts was worth P96 million.]
Trillanes claimed the account was jointly held by Rody and Sara, arguing that this made the money in the account relevant to his examination of the vice president’s finances.
“By the way, ito po ang pagkakamali ni Duterte doon sa pagbukas niya ng account na ’yan. Ginawa niyang joint account with Sara Duterte. Kaya ’yung pagmamay-ari niya, pagmamay-ari din ni Sara,” he said.
[Translation: By the way, this was Duterte’s mistake when he opened that account. He made it a joint account with Sara Duterte. So what he owns is also owned by Sara.]
Trillanes then linked P80 million of the amount to what he described as an investment insurance purchase involving the Dutertes.
“Bumili sila Sara Duterte at Digong ng P80 million worth na insurance,” Trillanes said. “Hindi ito ’yung insurance na hinuhulugan po ng mga ordinaryong Pilipino. Ito investment insurance ito. Isang bagsak ito. P80 million one-time cash payment.”
[Translation: Sara Duterte and Digong bought P80 million worth of insurance. This is not the kind of insurance that ordinary Filipinos pay for in installments. This is investment insurance. It was paid in one go, an P80-million one-time cash payment.]
Trillanes said the transaction raised questions about the amount of money available to the family at the time.
“Kung meron kang pera na kaya mong pambili ng P80 million na insurance, palagay n’yo magkano ’yung pera n’yan sa labas?” he said.
[Translation: If you have enough money to buy P80 million worth of insurance, how much money do you think you have outside of that?]
He said the insurance involved Sara and her siblings Paolo, Sebastian “Baste” and Veronica “Kitty” Duterte.
Trillanes said his records came from a master list of transactions he had been examining since 2016. He also pointed to the April House justice committee proceedings, where the Anti-Money Laundering Council confirmed that transactions selected by lawmakers from his earlier submissions matched AMLC records.
