MANILA — House prosecutors may call Vice President Sara Duterte to testify before the Senate impeachment court as they examine whether her declared wealth matches her lawful income and financial records.
Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., the prosecution’s legal spokesperson and counsel, said Saturday that prosecutors want to give Duterte an opportunity to explain possible discrepancies in her financial declarations.
“We have an intention after this to call her as a witness to give her an opportunity to explain,” Tolosa said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
The inquiry forms part of Article II of the impeachment case, which alleges unexplained wealth, inaccurate Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and failure to divest from business interests while in office.
Duterte’s declared net worth rose from ₱7.25 million in 2007, when she first entered public office as Davao City vice mayor, to ₱98.66 million in 2025, according to SALNs provided from the Office of the Ombudsman.
Senate President and impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero previously ruled that Duterte’s financial records from before she became vice president in 2022 can serve as a baseline but cannot independently establish impeachable offenses.
Prosecutors are using that baseline to examine whether the increase in Duterte’s declared wealth during her vice presidency matches her government salary, tax returns, bank transactions and business interests.
An Ombudsman official who testified during the proceedings said Duterte previously declared cash on hand or in banks but reported no cash assets from 2019 through 2025. The official also noted that some of Duterte’s SALNs listed business interests without corresponding acquisition costs or numbers of shares.
Prosecutors are also examining tax, corporate and financial records, including Anti-Money Laundering Council data involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
The records cover ₱6.77 billion in aggregate covered and suspicious transactions associated with the couple from 2006 to 2025. Of that amount, ₱3.77 billion involved Duterte and ₱2.99 billion involved Carpio.
The transaction figures represent the gross movement of money across nearly two decades and do not represent the couple’s total net worth.
Tolosa said government officials and bank representatives can authenticate documentary evidence without Duterte appearing in court. He said prosecutors will decide whether to call her after they finish presenting their evidence.
“The final decision on that would be made after we present all of our evidence,” Tolosa said.
The Senate impeachment court has already authorized subpoenas for Duterte’s bank, tax and AMLC records as prosecutors pursue evidence related to the financial allegations.
