ANTI-MONEY Laundering Council (AMLC) records presented before the Senate Impeachment Court showed a joint Bank of the Philippine Islands account involving Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and former President Rodrigo Duterte from which US$221,322.76—or ₱9,109,644.80—was withdrawn over the counter in 2013.
The covered transaction report identified the transaction date as April 8, 2013 and the servicing branch as BPI J. Vargas.
AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Atty. Ronel Buenaventura confirmed the joint account as the prosecution examined the agency’s records involving the vice president.
The displayed AMLC record classified the dollar withdrawal as a covered transaction. It did not, by itself, classify the withdrawal as suspicious or establish that it was illegal.
A covered transaction report, or CTR, is submitted when a transaction meets the reporting threshold under anti-money laundering rules. A suspicious transaction report, or STR, follows separate statutory indicators and may be filed regardless of the amount involved.
The ₱9.1-million-equivalent withdrawal forms part of a much broader set of AMLC records involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
Buenaventura testified that the AMLC summary contained 373 CTRs involving the vice president.
“Based lang po dito sa summary po, it’s 373, Your Honor,” Buenaventura said when asked for the number involving Duterte.
The AMLC executive director said another 363 CTRs involved Carpio.
“Ang number po is 363 po, based on the record, Your Honor,” he told the impeachment court.
Seventy reports appeared in both extracts. After removing those overlapping entries, the AMLC summary listed 666 combined CTRs involving Duterte and Carpio from 2007 to 2025.
The joint BPI account involving Sara and Rodrigo Duterte adds another specific transaction for the prosecution to examine as it compares independent financial records with the assets and financial interests declared by the vice president.
The records are being presented under Article II of the impeachment case, which alleges that Duterte accumulated wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and failed to fully and truthfully disclose her and her husband’s assets, liabilities and net worth.
The defense has questioned the relevance, admissibility and disclosure of some AMLC documents, including records marked “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.”
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero earlier overruled a defense objection to the presentation of older financial transactions, explaining that the subpoenaed records were intended to help establish Duterte’s financial position before she became vice president.
“This is part of the subpoenaed documents which, when the court issued the subpoena, said is part of establishing the baseline of the respondent’s net worth,” Escudero said.
He said the records would form part of Buenaventura’s testimony “leading to the actual net worth and/or the presence or absence of ill-gotten wealth.”
metrosundaily
