A lawmaker on Sunday said billions of pesos in transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in connection with Vice President Sara Duterte may represent only a partial picture, raising questions about the full extent of financial activity linked to her accounts.
House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said the reported P6.7 billion in transactions should not be viewed as a complete accounting, noting that the AMLC data covers only “covered” and “suspicious” transactions required under existing reporting rules.
“Kung nagugulat tayo sa P6.7 billion, we should understand this is not the full amount—ito ‘yung nakita lang ng AMLC under its limited scope. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Ortega said.
He explained that banks are mandated to report transactions of at least P500,000 in a single day, as well as those flagged as suspicious, leaving smaller but potentially frequent transactions outside automatic monitoring.
“Anything below that threshold is not automatically reported. Pero kung paulit-ulit ang maliliit na galaw ng pera, those can accumulate into very large amounts na hindi agad makikita sa AMLC data,” he added.
During an April 22 hearing of the House Committee on Justice, the AMLC disclosed that Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, were linked to 663 transactions, 630 of which were categorized as covered and 33 as suspicious, amounting to P6.77 billion.
Of the total, P4.42 billion were recorded as inflows, P1.55 billion as outflows, while P791.1 million remained undetermined.
Ortega emphasized that the figures should be seen as a “snapshot” rather than a definitive total, arguing that the scale of recorded transactions already warrants closer scrutiny.
“This is not a definitive total. It only reflects what the system is designed to capture. At kung ganito na kalaki ang lumalabas sa limited reporting, it is reasonable to ask how much more is outside that net,” he said.
The lawmaker also pushed back against claims from Duterte’s camp that the AMLC figures are exaggerated, saying the focus of the inquiry is on explaining the volume of transactions and whether these align with declared assets.
“The issue here is not whether the number is bloated or not. Ang tanong: bakit may ganitong volume ng transactions, at tugma ba ito sa idineklara sa SALN?” Ortega said.
Data presented during the same hearing 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.
Ortega pointed to what he described as a gap between these declarations and the magnitude of financial movements reflected in AMLC records.
“Kung ang declared net worth ay nasa tens of millions, pero ang galaw ng pera nasa billions, may disconnect na kailangang ipaliwanag,” he said.
The House panel has since found probable cause to impeach the Vice President over allegations that include unexplained wealth, and is expected to elevate its findings to the plenary before a possible trial in the Senate.