The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is legally permitted to share financial records with foreign counterparts, providing further legal basis for supplying documents to the Senate impeachment court, according to prosecution legal spokesperson and counsel Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr.
Speaking at the Saturday News Forum on October 3, 2026, Tolosa addressed ongoing arguments raised by the defense panel regarding the confidentiality of AMLC records involved in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.
Tolosa pointed out that existing AMLC regulations authorize the agency to exchange financial intelligence with foreign counterparts and international authorities under specific conditional protocols.
“As pointed out na ho ’yan doon sa hearings, kung nga even to foreign counterparts, pwedeng mag-share ang AMLC, eh all the more na pwedeng mag-share ng ganitong mga documents sa constitutional institution ng impeachment court,” Tolosa said.
He added that governing financial transparency statutes do not contain an absolute statutory bar that would prevent a constitutional body from compelling the production of relevant records.
“Ang reason nga doon, with respect to AMLC records, wala namang absolute prohibition under the applicable laws that could prevent the impeachment court from issuing subpoena to compel the presentation of these documents,” he explained.
The Senate impeachment court granted the prosecution’s request in July to subpoena bank and AMLC records belonging to Vice President Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. The court determined that the requested financial documents were prima facie relevant and material to the allegations of unexplained wealth outlined in Article II of the impeachment complaint.
In its preliminary ruling, the tribunal noted that Section 8-A of the Anti-Money Laundering Act regulates unauthorized internal disclosures by AMLC personnel but does not invalidate the lawful subpoena powers of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
Tolosa acknowledged that the defense team remains entitled to raise formal objections when AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura takes the witness stand or when prosecutors formally submit the documents into evidence.
“We can’t prevent them from doing that,” Tolosa noted.
Buenaventura is scheduled to testify on Monday, October 5, after the impeachment court granted a defense request for additional time to examine the volume of financial records and prepare for cross-examination.