(Photo by PNA)
MANILA – House prosecutors on Thursday challenged Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that she could not recall participating in transactions involving multimillion-peso joint bank accounts with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the explanation would have to be weighed against the amounts involved and bank documents bearing her signature.
Private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the Senate impeachment court would ultimately determine the credibility of the defense’s position after Bank of the Philippine Islands records showed joint accounts under the names of the Vice President and her father.
“The court will determine the strength of that evidence in case ‘yan ang magiging defense na gagamitin nila,” Tolosa said during a press briefing.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Duterte’s defense said she did not recall the joint BPI account and denied participating in the questioned transactions. Defense lawyer Michael Poa said the Vice President asked her lawyers to verify the accounts after they surfaced.
BPI records presented to the impeachment court showed two time deposits with original principal amounts of about Php 40.65 million and Php 55 million under an account bearing the names of Rodrigo Duterte and Sara Duterte. The prosecution also traced subsequent transactions involving manager’s checks.
Tolosa said the size and repeated nature of the transactions raised questions about the claim that the Vice President had no knowledge of them.
“Possible ba na itong ganitong kalalaking amounts, you didn’t know about them?” he asked.
He also cited Duterte’s signature on account-opening and updated know-your-customer records, arguing that this would make it more difficult to maintain that she had no knowledge of the accounts.
However, BPI witness Marwin Galvez testified that the manager’s check and time-deposit transaction documents presented in court bore Rodrigo Duterte’s signature, not Sara Duterte’s.
Tolosa said the prosecution would wait for the defense to formally present its full explanation before drawing conclusions.
“Ayaw nating pangunahan. Pakinggan natin kung ano ang magiging defense nila,” he said.
Meanwhile, House impeachment team adviser and spokesperson Ace Barbers accused Duterte of deliberately concealing millions of pesos in bank deposits by failing to separately disclose them in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
Barbers cited year-end bank balances of about Php 59 million in 2022, Php 71 million in 2023, Php 22 million in 2024 and Php 39 million in 2025 involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
He argued that the alleged discrepancies support Article II of the impeachment complaint, which involves accusations of unexplained wealth and failure to truthfully disclose assets.
The defense has disputed the prosecution’s interpretation of the records and maintained that ownership and control of the questioned funds should not be presumed before it presents its evidence.
