Who is Alexander Cabrera, the financial forensic analyst witness?

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The House prosecution panel on Friday presented Alexander Cabrera, the financial forensic analyst who is expected to tie together the tax and financial records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

Cabrera faced the court on the 37th Day of Duterte’s impeachment trial. Before he was presented however, Defense counsel Sheila Sison raised an issue with the witness, questioning why Cabrera was allowed access to confidential documents.

House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno argued that the documents were already declared to be public, adding that it was standard practice for lawyers to consult experts for their cases.

Impeachment presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero also said that it was standard for experts to be given legally-acquired materials for their insights, saying that the defense was free to raise questions during their cross-examination.

Diokno then proceeded to establish Cabrera’s credibility as an expert.

Cabrera said that he graduated high school from Our Lady of Peace in Antipolo, Rizal. He then acquired his degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accountancy from the Philippine School of Business Administration.

He went on to become a certified public accountant in 1988 and began work as a staff auditor at the accounting firm, Isla Lipana & Co, which is internationally known as the PwC Philippines. The firm is a member of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) network.

Since then, he rose through the ranks to become a senior associate in the tax department, and then became a senior manager before becoming a managing partner. He eventually became the vice chair of the firm before assuming the post of chair.

He retired from the firm in 2025 as the Chair Emeritus.

Part of his work was detecting fraud in financial records, saying that in his nearly 40 years, he has analyzed thousands of mergers and acquisitions.

Forensic audit was part of Cabrera’s job, saying that he had also spent thousands of hours on cases. During Diokno’s questioning, Cabrera said that he considered tax structuring and tax planning as his specialties.

Cabrera has also served as a resource person for legislative hearings in multiple hearings in Congress, saying that he offered his expertise in taxation. He has also worked in Congressional technical working groups. He estimated that he offered his expertise to Congress almost 100 times.

He also has a column in The Philippine Star called the “As easy as ABC”, where he talks about business and other national matters. — RSJ, GMA News

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