Questions over how Vice President Sara Duterte financed her overseas travel took center stage on Monday, Aug. 3, as House impeachment prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon challenged the source of funds used for her multiple foreign trips between 2025 and 2026.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Senate impeachment trial, Ridon said Duterte had spent a combined 91 days abroad during the two-year period. He estimated that the total cost of those travels could have reached between P5 million and P8 million, factoring in airfare and the United Nations daily subsistence allowance rates for accommodations, meals, and incidental expenses.
Ridon pointed to Duterte’s 2024 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), saying it reflected no cash on hand or cash in bank that could readily account for such expenses.
“Napakahalaga na maipaliwanag kung saan nanggaling ang pondong ginamit sa mga biyaheng ito. Una, wala pong cash dito. Zero ‘yung cash in bank, cash on hand ng Pangalawang Pangulo,” he said.
He argued that even if Duterte possessed funds that were not declared in her SALN, her official compensation alone would not appear enough to cover travel costs amounting to several million pesos.
“Can it come from her salary alone? I don’t think so,” Ridon said.
The lawmaker also dismissed the possibility that businesses linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, generated the money used for the trips, citing financial statements that he said showed losses.
“Can it come from the businesses that supposedly they own or they are partners of? Probably not because we have seen in the financial statements of all the Duterte-Carpio businesses, lugi po ‘yung mga negosyo po nito,” Ridon said.
He then asked, “So, saan po galing ‘yung panggastos para sa mga biyahe po na ito?”
Ridon likewise rejected claims that the trips should escape scrutiny because they were allegedly financed through private funds.
“I think at this point, we can say with certainty na hindi na uubra ‘yung paliwanag na wala naman siyang gastos dito sa mga biyahe po na ito dahil pribadong pondo daw ang ginamit.”
He added that if the travel expenses had been paid by friends or benefactors, it could give rise to a separate legal issue.
“Kung mga kaibigan, ’yun, di ba parang prima facie graft kung iba ‘yung nagpo-pondo ng mga biyahe?” Ridon noted.
