Metro Manila, Philippines — Multimillion-peso financial transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio and, in one major trail, her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, came under scrutiny before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The prosecution ramped up its presentation of evidence by presenting bank and insurance records in support of its allegation of unexplained wealth.
Private prosecutor James Bryan Alih said records from more than 30 bank accounts involving Duterte and Carpio showed combined year-end balances of about ₱59 million in 2022, ₱71.381 million in 2023, ₱22.245 million in 2024 and ₱39 million in 2025, or about ₱191.6 million across the four year-end periods.
The prosecution said these balances were not reflected in Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, or SALN. The defense objected to treating the figures as established ownership and asked that they be characterized as alleged. Alih agreed.
One of the day’s key financial trails involved around ₱96 million in two time deposits linked to a joint Bank of the Philippine Islands account under the names of Duterte and her father at the bank’s Julia Vargas branch in Pasig City.
BPI Central Manila branches division head Marwin Galvez testified that a ₱40.65-million time deposit was opened under the account on Jan. 22, 2010. It was rolled over 12 times and reached about ₱41.72 million at its final renewal in February 2011. When the deposit matured, the money was credited to a settlement account and used to purchase manager’s checks. Galvez said the money would not return to the account balance unless the checks were returned to the bank.
The prosecution also presented records of another time deposit of about ₱55 million under the same account. Together, the two deposits amounted to about ₱96 million.
The testimony prompted senator-judges to examine whether the repeated use of manager’s checks could have kept large amounts from appearing in year-end balances.
Senator-judge Ping Lacson said the prosecution appeared to be trying to establish a pattern and prove concealment. Alih agreed.
Senator-judge Tito Sotto also asked Galvez about “Tinikling,” which he described as the practice of returning unused manager’s checks after year-end. Galvez said he was not familiar with the term.
The prosecution then traced other transactions involving the funds. Four ₱20-million transactions totaling ₱80 million were identified in connection with BPI-Philam Life insurance products. A separate manager’s check dated May 30, 2016, amounted to ₱16.85 million and was payable to businessman Samuel C. Uy.
The ₱96-million figure had previously been flagged by former Sen. Sonny Trillanes, who alleged in an Oct. 2 press conference that the amount represented funds withdrawn from the same joint account of the vice president and her father.
Questions over Sara’s participation
The BPI testimony also raised a separate question: whether Sara Duterte personally participated in the transactions.
During cross-examination, defense lawyer Michael Poa asked Galvez about the distinction between “AND” and “OR” joint accounts.
Galvez testified that, for the BPI account in question, Rodrigo Duterte could transact on his own while Sara Duterte could not transact independently. Poa then presented manager’s-check applications bearing Rodrigo Duterte’s signature. Galvez said he did not see Sara Duterte’s signature on those documents.
Galvez also testified that both Rodrigo and Sara Duterte had signed the account’s know-your-customer documents when it was opened.
Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros asked whether the defense was effectively pointing to Rodrigo Duterte as the person responsible for the transactions.
Poa said Sara Duterte’s position was that she did not know about or participate in the manager’s-check purchases.
“Hindi po niya natatandaan… Wala siya naging participation,” Poa said.
Poa also presented a Feb. 23, 2026 letter to BPI seeking information about the accounts.
According to the defense, Duterte said she had no knowledge, participation or recollection of maintaining or having a beneficial interest in the accounts and learned of them only during House committee hearings.
The defense could not yet present the bank’s reply because its recipient, BPI senior vice president and legal counsel Paul Roderick Ysmael, was not in court to authenticate it.
Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero also sustained the defense’s objection when the prosecution tried to ask Galvez about possible foreign accounts of Duterte or Carpio, ruling that the question was outside the scope of the subpoena.
Senator-judge Sherwin Gatchalian said that if Duterte had a ₱96-million joint time deposit with her father, the amount should have been reflected in her SALN.
Other accounts, Cale88 and GenCorp
The prosecution also presented records from other banks involving Duterte, Carpio, and their children.
At Asia United Bank, manager at Davao Toril Branch Arcy James Gonzales testified that two active accounts under Carpio’s name had end of year balances ranging from around ₱872,000 to ₱2.25 million from 2022 to 2025. Gonzales said Sara Duterte was not a holder of either account.
At Philippine Savings Bank, a witness identified 10 accounts linked to Duterte and Carpio, four of which remained active.
At Philippine National Bank, branch manager Julius Parian testified that Carpio maintained five accounts with combined year-end balances of ₱20.2 million in 2022, ₱21.5 million in 2023, ₱1.9 million in 2024 and about ₱4.8 million in 2025. He also testified that Carpio made four cash withdrawals totaling about ₱18 million on Aug. 6, 2024.
BPI identified nine personal accounts involving Duterte, Carpio and her father, while Metrobank identified six accounts involving the couple and their children.
One minor child had more than ₱1 million in the account at the end of each year from 2022 to 2025, while a joint Duterte-Carpio account fell from about ₱2.3 million in 2022 to ₱55,000 in 2025.
Security Bank testimony focused on two companies previously linked to the couple.
Security Bank Branch Banking Group head Leslie Cham testified that Cale88 Foods Corporation had two peso checking accounts that were opened in 2024 and 2025 and both closed in July 2026.
The accounts recorded combined inflows of ₱40.14 million and outflows of about ₱40 million in 2024, followed by another ₱6.27 million in inflows in 2025.
Cham also testified that Cale88 was subjected to the bank’s compliance procedures and rejected suggestions that the bank relaxed its requirements for prominent clients. “We don’t do that,” he said.
The testimony followed AMLC records presented the previous day showing about ₱319.3 million in remittances to Cale88 from mainland China and Hong Kong.
Cham also testified that GenCorp Industries, Inc. maintained eight active peso accounts with Security Bank.
The accounts showed multimillion-peso year-end balances at various points from 2022 to 2025. GenCorp had earlier been identified in the trial as a business interest declared by Duterte in her 2024 and 2025 SALNs.
GenCorp had earlier been identified in the trial as a business interest declared by Duterte in her 2024 and 2025 SALNs.
AMLC reporting
Meanwhile, Metrobank Anti-Money Laundering Division head Niña Aguilar also testified on how banks determine which transactions should be reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Aguilar said suspicious transaction reports undergo review before they are submitted to the council. She also said negative media reports do not automatically trigger such reports and that banks assess the transactions and other circumstances before filing them.
Her testimony provided additional context to the AMLC records presented earlier in the trial.
AMLC executive director Ronel Buenaventura previously testified that the council’s records contained around ₱4.4 billion in covered and suspicious transactions involving Duterte and Carpio from 2007 to 2025.
The prosecution is using the bank, insurance and financial records to support its Article II allegation of unexplained wealth and compare the transactions with Duterte’s SALNs, declared assets and lawful income.
The defense has disputed the prosecution’s attribution of the bank balances to Duterte and questioned whether individual transactions can be linked to her, particularly the BPI manager’s checks, which Poa said she did not know about or participate in.
