Legal Expert: Official documents establish probable cause vs VP Sara

VETERAN litigator Atty. Lorna Kapunan believes the House Committee on Justice has seen and heard enough—from the discrepancies in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s declared net worth to the flagged bank transactions—to find probable cause to impeach her.

“Na-meet na ng House Committee on Justice ‘yung target nila na to prove probable cause, that a crime was committed, that a violation of law was committed, and that the vice president is probably guilty thereof. Hindi naman guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” she said in an interview with dzMM Teleradyo on Friday.

Kapunan also warned the public not to be swayed by the vice president’s press releases, her defense team, or online trolls seeking to discredit the non-disclosure findings in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNS) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) report. No spin can change what is already on official record, she added.

“Siguro naman sa dami ng ebidensya, follow the numbers. Huwag tayong maniwala sa mga press release, sa mga trolls, sa mga statements outside the Committee on Justice. Maniwala tayo sa numbers. Let the numbers speak for themselves,” Kapunan said.

“Hindi ito gawa-gawa ng Committee on Justice. Ito po ay official records ng government agencies, ng Ombudsman para sa SALN, ng AMLC para sa reporting on suspicious and covered transactions, ng SEC ng mga companies ng vice president at ng kanyang asawa na si Atty. Mans Carpio,” she added.

Kapunan explained that the House Committee on Justice has already laid out sworn testimonies and documentary evidence during the hearings that critics cannot simply dismiss as mere opinion. The records, she stressed, speak for themselves and raise legitimate questions that cannot be ignored.

“So these are records, they don’t lie. Kung litigation ang pinag-uusapan natin, nandyan na ang hard evidence, documentary from official sources. Hindi pwedeng sabihin na opinyon ‘yan. This is not opinion. This is not hearsay. These are documents,” Kapunan said.

During the April 22 hearing, committee members uncovered an over elevenfold jump in Duterte’s net worth, from P7.2 million in 2007 to P88.4 million in 2024. Despite the dramatic surge, it also found that she had failed to report her cash on hand and bank deposits under personal assets in her SALNs for six consecutive years from 2019 to 2024.

Meanwhile, the AMLC reported to the justice panel that over 600 transactions worth P6.7 billion from Duterte and her husband’s bank accounts had been flagged as covered or suspicious from 2006 to 2025.

The council also confirmed that 19 of the bank transaction entries former Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV presented matched its own records on the same dates and amounts. These included the P22 million Duterte had allegedly received from Samuel “Sammy” Uy, a purported drug lord and close business associate of the Duterte family.

For Kapunan, the Committee on Justice has given the vice president ample opportunity to address the allegations and defend herself—first through the answer ad cautelam, and second through the hearings where she would be under oath.

Instead, she said, the defense team filed a non-answer and Duterte continues to shun the hearings, even after she herself pleaded for due process before the Supreme Court during the first impeachment bid.

“Unang-una, nung binigyan sila ng opportunity to give their side sa House through an answer, nag-file sila ng non-answer. Nang magkaroon ng due process, nasundan ng House committee ang decision ng Supreme Court every step of the way. Bigyan daw ng kopya, binigyan ng kopya ng complaint,” Kapunan said.

“Bigyan daw ng opportunity to be heard, nanonotice na natin na dito sa hearing, ang kausap ng committee, empty chair. You cannot talk to an empty chair,” she added.

Kapunan emphasized that Duterte cannot hide behind jurisdictional arguments to avoid attending the hearings. The Constitution itself grants the House of Representatives the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Moreover, she noted, the hearings are clarificatory rather than evidentiary; the Committee on Justice is simply examining the facts cited in the impeachment complaints and giving the respondent the opportunity to be heard before ruling on probable cause.

“Huwag niya sabihin, hindi ko sasagutin niya dito. Saan niya sasagutin? Eh klaro sa Constitution na ang House of Representatives yan ang may jurisdiction to initiate impeachment cases at ang mag-decide ay ang Senate Impeachment Court,” Kapunan said.

Duterte’s defense team also cannot claim to be “surprised” at the evidence and testimonies being examined, she said, given that all hearings are being televised and subpoenas publicly issued.

The sheer weight of what was revealed—the documents on Duterte’s net worth and their comparison with AMLC figures—caught everyone off guard when they were being laid bare before the public for the first time.

“Lahat naman nagugulat, lalo-lalo na itong nakarang hearing, puro smoking gun. Lumabas ang talagang figures ng kanyang net worth at ang comparison sa mga AMLC figures na napakalaki ng discrepancy,” Kapunan added.

The Committee on Justice is set to hold its final hearing on April 29, where the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will present its findings on the alleged death threats Duterte made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The panel will then vote on whether probable cause exists for each allegation in the impeachment complaints.

Many committee members, however, have already signaled that the evidence presented in the first two hearings more than meets the threshold for probable cause on the charges of confidential fund misuse, bribery, and unexplained wealth, suggesting the April 29 vote may be a formality for those charges.