Financial figures and official documents presented by prosecutors in the Senate impeachment court speak to the alleged unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte, according to House prosecution adviser and spokesman Robert Ace Barbers.
Barbers added that the documents came from the respondent Vice President herself.
“The numbers don’t lie. Pangalawa, dokumento ito. Yung mga dokumento ang nagsasalita dito,” the former Surigao del Norte Congressman said.
“Yung dokumento na galing sa BIR, nagsisinungaling ba yan? Yan po ay submissions and filings ng ating Pangalawang Pangulo. Repository ang ating BIR,” Barbers also said.
“Yung banko, pwede ba nilang sabihin na mali ang aming accounting, kaya yung balance niya ay hindi P22 million, kundi P1 na lang. I don’t know. Who’s going to do that?” Barbers added.
By “P22 million,” the prosecution spokesman was referring to the 2024 yearend balance of the bank accounts of the Vice President and her husband Manases Carpio as reported by eight banks to the Senate impeachment court.
Based on her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), the Vice President declared no “cash on hand/cash in bank” from 2019 to 2025.
The banks also reported yearend balances amounting to P59 million in 2022, P71 million in 2023, and P39 million in 2025.
Barbers said it would be difficult for the defense team of the Vice President to convert the pieces of evidence the defense has presented to prove its case against her.
“Sa aming paniwala ay these are all incontrovertible evidence na hindi ganun kadali, kung ma-dispute man nila ito, ma-controvert man nila ito, ewan ko,” Barbers said.
“But of course, we would like to give all due respect to the defense. Bigyan natin sila ng pagkakataon para mapakinggan din natin yung kanilang depensa,” Barbers also said.
Barbers wondered whether the defense would present witnesses from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) who would dispute the testimonies of two officials from these agencies whom the prosecution has presented.
He was referring to lawyer Ronel Buenaventura, head of the AMLC secretariat, who was a prosecution witness.
The veteran solon also said that if the Vice President’s camp would call Buenaventura as a common witness, the defense cannot change the testimony he has given to the impeachment court.
“Kaya talagang mahirap para sa defense panel para pasinungalingan itong mga dokumentong ito,” Barbers stressed.