Fifteen bank accounts belonging to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, have been confirmed to align with records supplied by the Anti-Money Laundering Council, according to the House prosecution panel during a briefing held Wednesday, September 9.
Rep. Joel Chua of Manila’s 3rd District, a lawyer serving on the prosecution team, reported that every one of the accounts they checked corresponded with the AMLC’s findings. “All (cross-checked) 15 matched the accounts that were identified by the AMLC,” he said.
The prosecution intends to lean on the strength of the AMLC’s documentary trail, anticipating that Duterte’s defense will attempt to discredit former senator Antonio Trillanes IV by pointing to his hostility toward the Duterte family. Chua argued that accusations require substantiation. “This cannot just be a say so of anybody, without any iota of evidence,” he said.
Whether the panel calls a large or small roster of witnesses hinges on the defense’s cooperation. Chua explained that prosecutors filed a request for admission asking Duterte’s side to acknowledge the authenticity and ownership of specific accounts. Should the defense stipulate to the records, the roughly 15 bank officials being considered could shrink by about 10. “If they don’t agree, then we could have 20 to 25 witnesses,” he said, putting the maximum roster at 25.
Beyond the bank personnel, the panel has arranged for testimony from Trillanes, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla or a delegate from his office, and officials representing the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the AMLC.
The ill-gotten wealth phase, covering Article II, is set to open Monday under public prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno of the Akbayan party-list. September 9 and 10 were reserved for tagging upwards of 1,800 subpoenaed documents, among them bank and insurance files. Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero indicated the couple’s unexplained wealth case would be taken up starting September 14.
At Tuesday’s hearing on September 8, Escudero instructed Diokno to turn over the prosecution’s witness list for the coming week and ready the team for Monday’s resumption. “So that we save on the court’s time and we will proceed as scheduled on Monday for the trial,” he said. Escudero further laid out full-day sessions on October 1 and 2, October 5 to 9, and October 12 to 15, after which proceedings will pause for the Senate’s budget deliberations.
House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union framed the upcoming stage in dramatic terms as prosecutors organized the financial records and searched for ways to compress the next segment of the trial. “This will be explosive, this will be exciting,” he said. Ortega drew attention to the sizable sums flowing through the accounts, noting the figures had generated significant scrutiny when they first surfaced during House justice committee hearings in 2025.
