Bank secrecy laws and anti-money laundering confidentiality rules restricted bank witnesses from explicitly identifying which financial transactions involving Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, were flagged as suspicious, according to the House prosecution panel.
Speaking at a press conference, House trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong addressed media inquiries regarding why bank officers presented during the Senate impeachment trial focused primarily on account balances, deposits, and withdrawals rather than directly detailing Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs).
“I think I remember there was one point where one senator judge was actually questioning this kasi may bank secrecy law,” Adiong said. “So ibig sabihin it’s the bank reporting these transactions doon sa AMLA, and not the bank reporting it to the impeachment court.”
Under current regulations, financial institutions are mandated to submit STRs directly to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), while strict statutory non-disclosure rules govern those filings.
“They cannot make the determination na sabihin nila we flagged this… when in fact what they are required to do is to report to AMLA,” Adiong emphasized, explaining that bank personnel were legally bound to present verified transaction figures without testifying on administrative red flags. “Ang sinasabi lang po nila based on facts: these are the amounts deposited, these are the amounts that came out, these are the amounts that were withdrawn.”
Prosecution legal spokesperson Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. added that bank witnesses naturally lack visibility into an account holder’s intent or the eventual destination of withdrawn funds
“They’ve stated naman kasi yung purpose, they wouldn’t know bakit winidraw,” Tolosa noted. “They can just say that these transactions happened. Pero yung purposes, they won’t be able to get into that.”
The prosecution is pairing bank ledger histories with AMLC documentation to build its case under Article II of the impeachment complaint, which alleges that the Vice President amassed unexplained wealth and misdeclared her holdings in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).