Metro Manila, Philippines – It has been a decade since former Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV first brought Samuel “Sammy” Uy into public scrutiny, claiming the Davao businessman deposited millions of pesos into bank accounts linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family that form part of alleged undeclared wealth.
Trillanes revived these allegations during the House impeachment hearing of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, April 22.
This time, Trillanes explicitly and repeatedly described Uy as a “drug lord” who gave a total of ₱181.65 million to members of the Duterte family, including the vice president, the former president and his partner Honeylet Avanceña and daughter Kitty, as well as Rep. Paolo Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said in a report that the vice president was “identified as the beneficiary” of check purchases made by Uy and two more people with the same surname, amounting to ₱14.88 million.
In a press conference on Thursday, April 23, the Duterte defense team, led by lawyer Michael Poa, did not dispute the AMLC report, but noted that it did not establish that the vice president actually received the funds.
“We have to note that ang nakasabi lang naman is a manager’s check was allegedly — nagpagawa ng manager’s check allegedly si Sammy Uy wherein the recipients are the VP, and ganito, and who else. So yun lang yung nakasulat. Wala naman doon anything na natanggap talaga nila,” Poa said.
[Translation: We need to note that what is stated there is only that a manager’s check was allegedly ordered by Sammy Uy, and that the recipients were the vice president and others. That is all that is written. There is nothing there that shows they actually received the money.]
Poa labeling Uy as a drug lord remains unproven.
“Unless proven in a court of law, I don’t even want to go there and say alleged drug lord. Kawawa rin naman kasi yung tao nadadamay ang pangalan [It is unfortunate because the person’s name has been dragged into this],” Poa said.
He added that he and the vice president have not discussed whether she has personally met Uy, but noted that it is publicly known that the businessman is a friend of her father, former President Duterte.
When Trillanes first raised the issue of Uy’s supposed bank deposits to the Duterte family, then-Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte challenged him to present evidence. Uy has not issued any public statement on the matter.
Who is Sammy Uy?
The former president has repeatedly described Uy, a campaign contributor, as a long-time family friend.
The high-profile businessman was present during the former president’s bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016, although Duterte later said Uy was included by invitation from the Japanese side.
In a social media post on Thursday, former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol defended Uy, calling him a “collateral damage in the dirty game of politics.” He said he has no knowledge of any financial transactions between Uy and the Dutertes but vouched for his character.
“I would assume Sammy benefited from business dealings because of his closeness to the President but the alleged involvement in drugs is unbelievable,” Piñol said.
