A senior lawmaker has questioned how the reported billions of pesos that moved through the bank accounts of Vice President Sara Duterte could be reconciled with her declared income as a public official.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, who chairs the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said the vice president’s salary alone would be insufficient to explain the scale of the transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
Speaking in a televised interview, Chua pointed out that the vice president, who holds a Salary Grade 32 position, earns a little over P300,000 a month, or roughly P3.6 million annually, figures he said fall far short of accounting for billions in financial movements.
Data cited by the lawmaker showed that covered and suspicious transactions linked to Duterte and her spouse had accumulated to about P6.7 billion as of 2025, with a net inflow of P2.88 billion.
Chua noted that some of the largest reported inflows occurred during Duterte’s earlier years in local government, when she served as Davao City vice mayor and mayor, positions that carried lower compensation compared to her current post.
He also raised concerns over patterns in the vice president’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), saying these documents revealed inconsistencies that merit closer scrutiny. According to him, even if certain assets were declared under general categories, the amounts disclosed, such as a reported P5.8 million in cash and bank deposits, remain far from the billions cited in financial reports.
The lawmaker emphasized that under the SALN Law, cash on hand and cash in banks must be declared separately, making it easier to track liquid assets over time.
Chua likewise pushed back against arguments that lawmakers should only examine Duterte’s SALNs during her tenure as vice president. He said reviewing earlier filings, dating back to when she first held public office in 2007, is necessary to establish a baseline for comparison.
Records show Duterte’s declared net worth increased from P7 million in 2007 to P88.5 million in 2024. However, Chua pointed out that in recent years, her SALNs no longer explicitly listed cash assets, unlike in earlier disclosures.
These issues, he said, were among the factors considered by the House Committee on Justice when it voted unanimously to find probable cause to recommend impeachment proceedings against the vice president over allegations of unexplained wealth.