Metro Manila, Philippines – The financial declarations of Vice President Sara Duterte are now at front and center, described by the House prosecution panel as the strongest article yet in the impeachment trial: unexplained wealth, false statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), and business interests.
Based on her SALN presented at the Impeachment Court on Tuesday, Sept. 15, Duterte’s declared net worth rose from ₱7.25 million in 2007, when she was Davao vice mayor, to ₱98.66 million in 2025.
While the more than 10-fold increase is a key part of the case, the figures at this point have yet to establish unexplained wealth supposedly obtained through the years of public service.
The net worth
Ombudsman Central Records Division officer-in-charge Karen Batu identified Duterte’s SALN.
Her wealth, which the defense panel preferred calling as net worth, more than doubled a year into public office with ₱18.49 million filed for 2008.
By 2021, it stood at around ₱65 million and continued to rise in the succeeding years, reaching ₱71.66 million in 2022, ₱77.51 million in 2023, ₱88.51 million in 2024 and ₱98.66 million in 2025.
The prosecution also highlighted changes in Duterte’s cash declarations.
She reported cash on hand or in bank in earlier SALNs, but the entries were blank from 2019 to 2025.
The documents also showed a number of business interests and financial connections involving Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.
The companies included Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Gencorp Industries Inc., Carpio Lawyers, 888 Bistro, Cale88 Foods Corp. and Madayaw Fisheries Corp.
Batu also testified that Duterte did not declare shares of stock in a number of the businesses listed in her SALNs in the inclusive years.
The prosecution said it wanted to determine whether the increase can be explained by her income and other legitimate sources of funds.
That makes the SALN a reference point for the next phase of its case.
House prosecutor Terry Ridon said the declarations will be tested against tax, bank, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Philippine National Police Firearms Division records.
The prosecution also said that undeclared stock holdings could affect the value of the assets reflected in Duterte’s net worth.
The defense, however, has challenged the interpretation of the SALN requirements and the weight based on records alone.
Manila Rep. Benny Abante, an endorser of one of the complaints against the vice president, said that SALNs usually grow only up to 25 percent.
Another issue raised in the hearing was Duterte’s SALN when her first term as Davao City mayor ended on June 30, 2013.
Batu testified that the ombudsman had no record of an exit SALN for that period.
An exit SALN is required when a public official separates from government service.
Duterte was out of public office from 2013 to 2016 before returning as mayor.
Defense rebuttal
Meanwhile, defense lawyer Justin Gular established that Batu’s role was limited to identifying and maintaining the ombudsman records.
She did not have personal knowledge of Duterte’s assets or the circumstances behind the entries in her SALNs.
Batu also said her knowledge was limited to what was written in the records and that her office does not verify the truth of the contents.
In a post-trial press briefing, defense lawyer Michael Poa explained that a records custodian should not be expected to determine whether Duterte’s declarations contained irregularities or constituted ill-gotten wealth.
“She’s not competent to testify whether there was non-disclosure, whether there was irregularity, whether there was ill-gotten wealth,” Poa said.
Corporate records
The prosecution will next turn to corporate records as it tries to connect Duterte’s declarations to her actual financial and business interests.
Ridon told the court that the prosecution wants to present Gerardo del Rosario, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Company Registration and Monitoring Department, as its next witness on Monday, Sept. 21.
The SEC records are expected to help the prosecution examine the companies and business interests linked to Duterte and her husband.
For the prosecution, the SALNs presented on Day 25 of the trial are only a part of a broader picture.
“Isang part pa lang ito ng puzzle,” prosecution panel member Benjamin Tolosa said after the hearing.
[Translation: This is just one part of the puzzle.]
Former Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, prosecution official adviser and spokesperson, said the SALNs by themselves were not yet conclusive to establish wrongdoing.
“Di natin sinasabi na meron nang pagkakamali… kailangan tingnan yung kabuuang puzzle,” Barbers said.
[Translation: We are not saying that there is already wrongdoing… we have to look at the full picture.]
