A senior House lawmaker on Saturday said the billions of pesos in financial transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in connection with Vice President Sara Duterte may represent only a portion of the total funds that moved through her accounts.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said the P6.77 billion cited in AMLC records covers only “covered” and “suspicious” transactions, excluding smaller deposits that fall below mandatory reporting thresholds.
Under existing banking regulations, transactions amounting to P500,000 and above are automatically reported to the AMLC, while those below that level are not required to be flagged. Chua said this suggests the actual volume of funds that passed through the accounts of Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, could be significantly higher.
The lawmaker made the remarks during a public forum in Quezon City, as discussions continue in the House of Representatives over financial records presented in ongoing impeachment proceedings.
Data submitted to the House Committee on Justice showed that Duterte and her spouse were linked to 663 bank transactions, 630 classified as covered and 33 as suspicious, amounting to P6.77 billion from 2006 to 2025. Of the total, P4.42 billion were recorded as inflows, P1.55 billion as outflows, while P791.1 million remained undetermined.
Chua said the AMLC figures should not be treated as a definitive measure of wealth, but as indicators of financial activity that warrant further scrutiny. He stressed that the inquiry focuses on identifying possible patterns of unexplained wealth, not on drawing conclusions about liability at this stage.
He added that determining unexplained wealth requires examining a public official’s financial history from the start of government service to the present, and comparing it with declared assets in their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
Records presented during the same hearings by the Office of the Ombudsman showed Duterte’s declared net worth rising from P7.25 million in 2007 to P88.51 million in 2024. Chua said the gap between these declarations and the scale of transactions reported by the AMLC raises questions that need to be addressed.
He also pushed back against claims from Duterte’s legal camp that the AMLC figures were overstated, saying the data should instead be viewed as a basis for further examination.
According to Chua, even the billions already flagged could be an underestimation, as smaller, unreported transactions may not be reflected in AMLC records.
The House Committee on Justice continues its review of financial documents and testimonies to determine whether there is sufficient basis to proceed with impeachment proceedings against the Vice President.