THE House prosecution is questioning whether Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s declared businesses generated income that could help explain the growth in her net worth after corporate records presented in her impeachment trial showed no dividend declarations in several companies examined.
House prosecution team adviser and spokesperson Ace Barbers said “no dividends declared” was the key takeaway from Monday’s presentation of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records.
“Ngayong araw na ito ay klarong-klaro, isa lamang ang matatandaan natin at ng ating mga kababayan: ‘No dividends declared.’ ’Yan lamang po,” Barbers said at a post-trial press briefing.
Barbers said the dividend records matter because prosecutors are examining whether Duterte’s declared businesses provided additional legitimate income that could account for the increase in her wealth.
“So kung ang paglobo ng iyong net worth ay galing sa sinasabing negosyo, bakit ang deklarasyon ninyo sa records ng SEC ay ‘no dividends declared’? So ’yan ang malaking tanong,” Barbers said.
Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, declared a net worth of P71.66 million in 2022, which rose to P77.51 million in 2023, P88.51 million in 2024 and P98.66 million in 2025, according to their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) presented earlier in the trial.
This represents an increase of about P27 million from year-end 2022 to 2025.
SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo Del Rosario testified that available filings for several companies in which Duterte or Carpio declared business interests contained no information showing dividend declarations.
The Senate impeachment court, however, clarified that this finding did not apply across the board.
For companies without audited financial statements (AFS), Del Rosario had no basis from the available SEC records to determine whether dividends had been declared.
Barbers said prosecutors would continue examining whether Duterte’s declared businesses could account for her wealth.
“Kung ang dineclare mong net worth mo na ayon sa iyo ay ito ’yung mga company mo, ito ’yung mga assets and properties mo, cash on bank, cash in hand, blah blah blah,” he said.
“So kung ito hindi tugma doon sa kabuuang neto ng iyong yaman, eh may malaking, malaking, malaking question mark talaga diyan.”
The corporate records form part of the prosecution’s evidence under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment involving Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.
metrosundaily
