By Jose Cielito Reganit
Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, have 51 firearms registered under their names, including four Class A light weapons with fully automatic functions, Philippine National Police (PNP) records presented in her impeachment trial showed Monday.
Police Maj. Joe Rickson Sangalang, Records Division chief of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO), testified that 22 of the firearms are registered to Duterte and 29 to Carpio.
House prosecutor San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora presented the records as part of the prosecution’s case under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment involving Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.
“Si Vice President Sara po ay merong 22 firearms. Meron po siyang 14 na pistols, two revolvers, five rifles, of which tatlo po doon ay Class A light weapons, and isa pang shotgun (Vice President Sara has 22 firearms. She has 14 pistols, two revolvers, five rifles, of which three are Class A light weapons, and one shotgun),” Sangalang said.
Carpio has 16 pistols, two revolvers, one shotgun and 10 rifles, including one Class A light weapon. One of his firearms has an expired registration.
Sangalang said Duterte and Carpio both hold Type 5 licenses to own and possess firearms, which allow certified gun collectors to own more than 15 registered firearms.
Asked about the three Class A light weapons registered to Duterte, Sangalang confirmed that they have fully automatic functions.
“Ibig sabihin po nito, ’pag kinalabit po natin iyong gatilyo, sunud-sunod na po iyong puputok (This means that when you pull the trigger, it will fire continuously),” he said.
The FEO records also placed the combined current market value of the couple’s firearms at PHP7,220,370 — PHP2,184,550 for Duterte’s and PHP5,035,820 for Carpio’s.
The valuation became a point of contention, however, as the defense stressed that the figures were based on current market prices rather than what the couple actually paid for the firearms.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero also questioned the relevance and weight of the evidence to the unexplained wealth charge and directed prosecutors to abbreviate the presentation after senator-judges raised similar concerns.
Sangalang acknowledged that he had no personal knowledge of the firearms’ actual acquisition costs.
The defense subsequently waived cross-examination after Escudero established that the PHP7.2-million valuation was based on the FEO’s market survey and did not necessarily represent the couple’s acquisition costs.
The House prosecution presented the firearms records as part of its broader examination of Duterte’s assets and financial interests under the unexplained wealth charge.
