The Senate impeachment court on Day 34 of the Sara Duterte trial began comparing the Vice President's bank records against her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Prosecutors say the gap is large; the defense's explanation, at least in the reporting we could find, is not yet on the record.
According to The Philippine Star (Delon Porcalla, with Marc Jayson Cayabyab and Neil Jayson Servallos), records gathered from eight banks covering 2022 to 2025 show 30 active accounts holding about ₱190 million, against ₱13.32 million declared in Vice President Sara Duterte's SALN. Prosecutor and Rep. Joel Chua told the court the accounts could not be found in the SALNs.
What the records show
Per The Philippine Star, the accounts of Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, held more than ₱59 million in 2022, more than ₱71 million in 2023, more than ₱22 million in 2024 and more than ₱35 million in 2025. The ₱190 million figure is the sum of four separate year-end snapshots, not a single-date balance, so it should not be read as ₱190 million sitting in accounts at one time. Prosecutors say they will compare each year's balance with that year's SALN.
For 2022, the paper reports, Carpio declared ₱8 million under "other personal properties" and Duterte declared ₱5.25 million across two entries, a combined ₱13.325 million. Against a year-end balance above ₱59 million, the gap exceeds ₱45.675 million. Chua said the couple's declared 2022 net worth was about ₱71 million, with the bank balance alone accounting for most of it, and noted that firearms worth about ₱7 million, mentioned in earlier testimony, would also need to fit inside that figure.
The CALE88 question
The trial also turned to CALE88 Foods Corp., in which Carpio holds 47.5 percent. Prosecutors say it received ₱319 million in "remittances" from Chinese companies. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian read out its balance sheet: ₱776 million in inflows, ₱154 million in outflows, cumulative sales of ₱23 million, assets of ₱18 million, liabilities of ₱20 million and paid-up capital of ₱125,000. He said half of its sales came from China.
AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura said CALE88 "could be considered" a money laundering candidate, subject to further investigation, and that it must still be determined whether unlawful activity generated the funds. Sen. Francis Pangilinan noted the funds arrived between 2022 and 2025, during Duterte's vice presidency, and Buenaventura agreed. Buenaventura put the aggregate in covered and suspicious transaction reports at ₱1,254,736,297.08. Asked whether the receipts amounted to a conflict of interest, he declined to say and left the legal-or-illegal question to the court.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said one of the senders, Beijing Zhenweifang Food Co., is owned by Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group, a state-owned enterprise with Communist Party ties. Buenaventura declined to characterize the transactions and said he needed to review the entities' backgrounds.
What we don't know
The Philippine Star's report carries no statement from Duterte, Carpio or their counsel. A second Philstar headline in the same news cycle indicates the Vice President's camp says it is ready to explain the bank records, but we have not been able to read that piece, so the substance of the explanation is unconfirmed here. It is also unconfirmed whether the accounts reflect income already reported elsewhere, and whether any gap between balances and SALN entries reflects unlawful enrichment or a different accounting treatment. A balance that is absent from a SALN is an allegation for the court to test, not a finding.
The record does show one thing plainly: a trial that is nominally about a Vice President's finances is now relying on a bank manager's testimony to establish what a sworn declaration did not list, and on a foods company with ₱23 million in sales to explain where ₱776 million came from.
Context
Unexplained wealth is Article II of the impeachment complaint. Earlier Pulpulitiko coverage reported the AMLC's testimony on ₱4.4 billion in "suspicious" transactions touching the Vice President and her husband, a figure revised down from ₱6.7 billion after a bank correction. The SALN is a public declaration under Philippine law that officials must file annually; undeclared assets can be grounds for administrative and criminal liability, though that question is for the courts and not decided here.
Sources
- The Philippine Star, "Bank records show undeclared VP assets," Delon Porcalla, Oct. 7, 2026: https://philstar.com/headlines/2026/10/07/2561461/bank-records-show-undeclared-vp-assets
- The Philippine Star, "VP camp ready to explain bank records," Oct. 8, 2026 (headline only, not read): https://philstar.com/headlines/2026/10/08/2561689/vp-camp-ready-explain-bank-records