HOUSE lead prosecutor Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro asserted Saturday that financial records shown during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial present a lifestyle sharply at odds with the humble public image the Duterte family cultivated upon entering national politics.
Citing the findings of forensic expert witness Atty. Alexander Cabrera, Luistro pointed to credit card transactions, large‑value checks, and rapid cash withdrawals that appear far removed from the simple living they have publicly emphasized. “This is entirely different from the picture that they depicted when they entered national politics,” Luistro remarked.
Cabrera’s testimony highlighted specific transactions: a ₱205,007 dinner at a Tokyo restaurant, ₱299,142 spent at a Nike store in Davao in a single day, ₱256,882.50 at a Nike outlet in Kuala Lumpur, and nearly ₱240,000 in purchases at Japan’s Don Quijote retail chain. Luistro contrasted these with the widely circulated image of former President Rodrigo Duterte sleeping in a mosquito net and eating at modest eateries, and Vice President Duterte buying street food such as fishballs. “What we see is a far cry from what they showed the public,” she said.
The review also flagged other irregularities, including a ₱11.35‑million check issued by Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio to a dentist and business partner — an amount Cabrera noted was implausibly large to be explained as payment for meals — and ₱41 million withdrawn within a single hour, which the witness described as highly unusual for legitimate banking activity. Cabrera also detailed what he termed a check‑kiting arrangement involving manager’s checks totaling ₱96 million, designed to keep funds out of year‑end account balances and effectively conceal them from asset disclosures. The funds were later used to purchase ₱20‑million insurance policies for the Vice President and her children.
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