The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) told the Senate impeachment court on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, that its records show two transactions totaling nearly PHP18.9 million involving an account owned by Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo R. Duterte. AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura identified the transactions as the House prosecution began presenting specific financial records under the unexplained wealth charge against the Vice President.
Buenaventura said Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) reported an April 8, 2013 over-the-counter withdrawal involving the joint account, with a peso value of PHP9,109,644.80 and a corresponding foreign exchange amount of USD221,322.76. He clarified that the peso and dollar figures refer to the same transaction and should not be added together. He said the record indicated USD as the foreign exchange code but did not specify whether the withdrawal was made in pesos or dollars.
He also identified a separate BPI transaction involving the same account on March 9, 2011, with a peso amount of PHP9,785,744.55 and a corresponding foreign exchange amount of USD225,581.94. It was coded as a debit memo, but he could not determine from the AMLC record what the debit memo specifically represented. The two transactions had a combined peso value of PHP18,895,389.35.
Buenaventura also testified that, based on the AMLC summary, there are 373 covered transaction reports (CTRs) involving the Vice President and 363 involving her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. Seventy of the reports overlap, leaving 666 combined CTRs after duplicates are removed.
A covered transaction report does not, by itself, mean that a transaction is illegal or suspicious. Buenaventura earlier explained that covered persons such as banks are required under anti-money laundering rules to report transactions meeting the statutory threshold. Suspicious transaction reports, he said, are based on separate indicators and may be reported regardless of amount.
The defense objected to the presentation of foreign currency-related information, arguing that foreign currency deposits are protected by confidentiality laws. Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia countered that the prosecution was examining covered transaction reports, not directly inquiring into foreign currency deposits, and that the reporting of covered and suspicious transactions falls under exceptions to confidentiality restrictions.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero earlier overruled a defense objection on the relevance of older financial transactions, saying the subpoenaed records were intended in part to establish the baseline of the respondent's net worth.
The defense has disputed the prosecution's allegations and has maintained that financial records must be presented and verified in accordance with banking and confidentiality laws. It also challenged the admissibility, relevance and public disclosure of some of the AMLC records, including documents marked "STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL."
The records are being presented under Article II of the impeachment case, which accuses the Vice President of amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and of failing to fully and truthfully disclose her and her husband's assets, liabilities and net worth.
Source: Philippine News Agency (PNA), report by Jose Cielito Reganit; photo by Avito Dalan.