A legal expert pushed back Monday against warnings issued by the camp of Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, after his legal counsel cautioned media organizations against publishing details from an Anti-Money Laundering Council report containing his financial records.
Lawyer Michael Yusingco, a nonresident research fellow at the Ateneo School of Government, said the testimony presented before the House Committee on Justice falls entirely outside the scope of privileged or restricted information.
“Reporting on official and public proceedings, which includes all information revealed during these proceedings, is protected by the constitution,” Yusingco said.
“Journos reporting on these matters enjoy full constitutional protection and should not be deterred from reporting the truth which the public deserves to know,” he told the Inquirer, adding that it was “ill-advised to caution journos from doing their job.”
Yusingco’s remarks followed a press conference held by Atty. Peter Paul Danao, Carpio’s legal counsel, who cited the amended Section 14, paragraph (d) of Republic Act No. 9160. That provision states that in cases where confidential information is published or reported by media, “the responsible reporter, writer, president, publisher, manager and editor-in-chief shall be liable under this Act.”
“As a lawyer, I have to warn that, even under the AMLC, the media is being prohibited,” Danao said. “You have to be careful in citing the AMLC report.”
Despite the warning, Danao said Carpio has no plans to file charges against journalists who have already cited the report. “Atty Mans has not, and has no intention to, to file any case against the media,” he said, acknowledging that reporters were only doing their jobs.
“We’re just trying to caution you now, medyo maghinay-hinay tayo dahil kung hindi kami, baka ‘yung iba. Baka sa ibang panahon na meron kayong ilabas din,” Danao added.
The warning comes after Carpio last week filed criminal complaints against Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor and AMLC chairperson Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, and several lawmakers over the public disclosure of his financial records during the April 22 impeachment hearing. The respondents face alleged violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Bank Secrecy Law, and the Data Privacy Act.
At that hearing, Buenaventura disclosed that banks had flagged 33 suspicious transactions and 630 covered dealings worth P6.7 billion linked to Duterte and Carpio. An AMLC report submitted to the panel showed roughly P4.4 billion flowing into their combined accounts, P1.5 billion transferred out, and approximately P791 million that could not be categorized as either inflow or outflow.
Danao disputed the figures, saying Carpio “does not have that six billion amount” and describing the sum as inflated.
