Bank accounts held jointly by Vice President Sara Duterte and former President Rodrigo Duterte recorded P193.7 million in separate transactions on a single day in March 2014, an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) official told the Senate impeachment court on Monday. AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, a prosecution witness, identified the father and daughter as the joint owners of the accounts behind the transfers.
The figures cover seven transactions dated March 28, 2014, with a combined value of P193,705,615.88. The largest entries were for P55.1 million and P41.7 million, and four transfers were for exactly P20 million each. Buenaventura said banks reported them under the covered transaction code for inter-account transfers, meaning money that moved from one account to another client’s account within the same bank. The amounts form part of the P4.4 billion in financial movements that the AMLC flagged in its reports on covered and suspicious transactions.
The defense objected to the total being displayed on the Senate livestream. Lawyer Mark Vinluan argued that the AMLC reports themselves show no aggregate figure and that adding up the entries could leave a misleading impression. Presiding Officer Francis Escudero refused to have it taken down after Buenaventura confirmed that each entry carried its own reference number and counted as a unique transaction rather than a double booking. Asked whether it was proper to total the amounts, Buenaventura said he could not say, and the defense registered a continuing objection.
Buenaventura first presented the AMLC findings at the House of Representatives committee on justice during its hearings on the two impeachment complaints against the vice president. There he reported covered and suspicious transactions by Duterte and her relatives worth P6.7 billion, including P4.4 billion in inflows and P1.5 billion in outflows. He explained that covered transactions are bank transactions above P500,000 that banks must report, while suspicious transactions are flagged over questions about the source of funds, whatever the amount.
During the House proceedings, Buenaventura also confirmed that 18 transactions picked at random by Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima from the annexes of former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s sworn affidavit matched AMLC records. Trillanes has accused the Dutertes of keeping bank accounts out of their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. The defense has since resumed its cross-examination of the AMLC records at the trial.
