P4.43 B deposited to Sara; P181 M was drug payola
VP Sara Duterte’s bank accounts held P4.43 billion in 2006-2025.
It included P181-million payola from a drug lord.
Wednesday’s hearing on Sara’s impeachment bared those figures.
The P4.43 billion were deposits and interest in Sara’s individual and joint accounts with husband Manases Carpio. It was presented by Anti-Money Laundering Council executive director Ronel Buenaventura.
The P181-million drug payola showed in documents from ex-senator Antonio Trillanes. It is reflected in Sara’s joint accounts with father Rodrigo Duterte. Also those of brothers Rep. Paolo and Mayor Sebastian Duterte. And of Rodrigo’s common-law wife Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña with their daughter Veronica “Kitty” Duterte.
AMLC totaled P6.77-billion transactions by Sara and Carpio. Breakdown: P4.43-billion inflows, P1.55-billion outflows and P791 million that “could not be clearly determined based on available records.”
The House justice committee hearing focused on five subpoenaed papers:
• AMLC reports of 630 covered and 33 suspicious transactions by Sara and Carpio, 2006-2025. “Covered” means P500,000 or more in a single day; “suspicious,” those red-flagged by banks for doubtful legitimacy or possible links to unlawful sources;
• Trillanes’ testimony and annexes on Sara and Rodrigo’s joint accounts up to 2016, and payoffs in manager’s checks from alleged drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy;
• Sara’s yearly statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, 2007-2024, from Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla;
• Records of Sara and Carpio’s 10 corporations from Securities and Exchange Commission director Gerardo del Rosario;
• Income tax returns of Sara and Carpio, 2007-2024, from BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza, but unsealed from the box.
Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima randomly picked 18 transactions from Trillanes’ annexes for comparison with AMLC records. Buenaventura confirmed all 18:
• Five from Annex-H, transactions in the accounts of Sara, Rodrigo, Paolo, Sebastian Duterte and Avanceña;
• Three from Annex-I, “Sammy Uy’s payouts to Sara Duterte and family;”
• Five from Annex-B, movements from Sara’s individual and joint accounts with Carpio and family members;
• Five from Annex-A, Sara’s joint account with Rodrigo Duterte.
Trillanes said his documents came from whistleblower Joseph de Mesa, who was involved in government investigations. He first accused Sara and Rodrigo in 2016 of P2.4-billion hidden deposits in two banks in Pasig City. He said the two, as alternating Davao City mayor and vice mayor, broke the SALN law that requires public officials to declare real estate, cash and valuables, investments and debts. Then-presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte denied it.
During his presidency, Rodrigo admitted on camera to having P200 million, then withdrawing it all “to have a good time.” On July 30, 2018 he fired deputy ombudsman Melchor Carandang, whom he suspected of feeding documents to Trillanes. In a House inquiry in November 2024, Duterte attempted to punch Trillanes for daring him to sign a waiver of the Bank Secrecy Law.
Sara again snubbed the House hearing. In previous absences, she merely countered testimonies through press conferences. Yesterday she was scheduled to fly to Korea onto The Hague and other European capitals.
Rodrigo is in International Criminal Court jail at The Hague. Last Wednesday, the ICC appeals chamber ruled that he should undergo trial for extrajudicial killings during his bloody war on drugs.
Uy was listed as Rodrigo’s 2016 campaign contributor. Trillanes linked him to Chinese national Michael Yang, Rodrigo’s special presidential economic adviser. Yang brokered the P11.5-billion Pharmally scam of fake and faulty pandemic supplies. He set up POGO gambling-scamming hubs in Metro Manila, Tarlac, Pampanga, Cebu and Metro Davao.
Trillanes said Uy and Yang were into shabu trafficking. He cited affidavits by retired police sergeant Arturo Lascañas, confessed organizer of Rodrigo and Sara’s Davao Death Squad. Uy supposedly ordered the killing of witnesses and fall guys in his and Yang’s narco-trade.
At Wednesday’s hearing, three justice committee members pointed up faults in Sara’s SALNs and SEC papers:
• Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon showed wide discrepancies between Sara’s multibillion-peso bank accounts and her puny declared assets and net worth in 2006-2025;
• Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua noted that Sara’s SALNs in 2019 to 2024, unlike previous ones, had no entries for “cash in hand and in bank” despite the huge deposits presented by AMLC;
• Cagayan de Oro 1st district Rep. Lordan Suan said Sara violated the Constitution for Metro City Chow Foods corporate directorship and dealings as VP since 2022. Article VII, Executive Department, Section 13 forbids the President, VP, Cabinet members and their deputies and assistants from corporate holdings to avoid conflict of interest.
Committee chairwoman Gerville Luistro said, “Once the SALNs, BIR, SEC and AMLC records are laid side by side, they tell a story that no press conference or diversion can erase. Numbers, once laid bare, speak with a clarity that cuts through noise. And when they point to a discrepancy, they do not whisper. They demand to be answered.”
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