Bank confirms Duterte father-daughter account

MANILA, Philippines — More than a decade after then Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV publicly alleged that Rodrigo Duterte maintained a large, undeclared account at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the bank confirmed before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday that the former President and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, jointly held an account at its Julia Vargas branch.

BPI Central Metro Manila Branches division head Marwin Galvez testified that a peso time deposit under the names “Rodrigo Duterte or Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Sara Z. Duterte” was opened on Jan. 22, 2010, with P40.65 million.

The time deposit was renewed 12 times and grew to P41.72 million before the money was used to purchase manager’s checks in March 2011. Prosecutors said the funds were repeatedly kept in manager’s checks, effectively removing them from the account’s year-end balances.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Trillanes’ allegations can’t be disregarded, must be checked – prosec

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

The testimony revived a controversy that erupted during the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trillanes alleged that Duterte had at least P227 million in a BPI Julia Vargas account that he had not declared in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

‘Nonexistent’

Duterte initially denied the alleged account, calling it “nonexistent.” After netizens posted copies of deposit transaction receipts for his BPI account, he admitted having two accounts at the branch, one with P17,000 and another with less than P50,000.

He later said he had “less than P200 million” in the branch and had not declared the money in his 2014 SALN because he had already spent it, describing it as birthday gifts from friends.

BPI declined to comment publicly at the time, citing bank secrecy and client confidentiality, and denied being the source of Trillanes’ information.

Article continues after this advertisement

More than 10 years later, BPI records were placed before the impeachment court as prosecutors sought to trace the movement of funds and establish a pattern they said could be relevant to their allegations against Sara.

P41.7-M manager’s checks

Galvez confirmed that three manager’s checks—dated April 19 and Oct. 17, 2012, and Oct. 7, 2013—were each for P41,721,035.62, with former President Duterte as payee.

Article continues after this advertisement

He also confirmed a P16,852,782 manager’s check dated May 30, 2016, payable to businessman Samuel C. Uy, which prosecutors said was purchased from the joint Duterte account.

“Based on the records, we submitted, Your Honor, the payee of the manager’s check number 20536 dated May 30, 2016 is Samuel C. Uy,” Galvez said.

Private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih said the P41.72 million became “floating” after the manager’s check was issued—deducted from the client’s account and transferred to the bank’s settlement account while the check remained outstanding.

“The manager’s checks being circulated were not reflected in the year-end balance because the funds were still floating,” Alih said.

Alij said another P55-million time deposit was similarly converted into a manager’s check, putting the two amounts at about P96 million.

Senator-judge Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the prosecution appeared to be establishing a pattern of concealment.

“You’re trying to establish a pattern aimed at proving concealment,” Lacson said.

Alih confirmed that was the prosecution’s objective.

The defense objected, with lawyer Michael Poa questioning the relevance of transactions made before Sara became vice president.

Senator-judge Bam Aquino asked whether clients commonly bought manager’s checks that were later left unused.

Galvez said the practice was “not uncommon,” but declined to say whether checks could deliberately be left unused to temporarily remove funds from an account.

“As to whether it is purposely done, I cannot comment,” Galvez said.

Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero noted that BPI documents showed Sara’s signature did not appear on the relevant transactions.

“Vice President Sara Duterte’s signature does not appear in any of the transaction documents, such as the opening and closing of time deposit, and the purchase of manager’s checks,” Escudero said.

The defense stressed that this indicated Sara did not necessarily control the transactions.

The prosecution, however, presented the records as part of its broader effort to trace money and determine whether assets and financial interests were properly reflected in Sara’s SALNs.

30 accounts, P190M

Prosecutors also presented a wider set of financial records involving Sara and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, from 2022 to 2025.

Fifteen bank and insurance company representatives testified on numerous accounts. Prosecutors said the records showed Sara and Carpio had 30 active bank accounts with a combined ending balance of about P190 million as of end-2025.

At Asia United Bank, Carpio had two accounts, one solely in his name and another jointly held with an unidentified individual.

At Philippine Savings Bank, Sara and Carpio each maintained an account at the Wilson branch in Manila.

Metrobank records showed three remaining active accounts among six accounts associated with the couple and their children, including a joint Sara-Carpio account, another under Sara’s name and an account belonging to one of their children.

Security Bank also presented an account under Carpio’s name.

Corporate accounts involving Cale88 Foods Corp. and GenCorp Industries Inc., businesses linked to the Duterte family, were also presented.

Security Bank said Cale88 had two accounts that were later closed, while GenCorp had eight active accounts. The GenCorp accounts had combined year-end balances of P50.75 million in 2022, P33.22 million in 2023, P31.45 million in 2024 and P14.50 million in 2025.

Two Cale88 checking accounts were reported closed in July 2026, the month the impeachment trial began.

The records, including bank and insurance transactions involving Sara and Carpio, form part of the prosecution’s case alleging unexplained wealth and incomplete disclosure of assets and financial interests in Sara’s SALNs.

In her public statements, Sara has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.

Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified Monday and Tuesday that the AMLC had records of 666 covered transaction reports and 55 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) involving Sara and Carpio, totaling about P4.4 billion from 2007 to 2025.

Among the transactions was BPI’s reported over-the-counter withdrawal of P9.1 million on April 8, 2013, from the joint account of Rodrigo and Sara at the Julia Vargas branch.

Buenaventura acknowledged on cross-examination that he had no personal knowledge of whether Sara had accumulated unexplained wealth and that his testimony was based on the AMLC records.

Metrobank Anti-Money Laundering division head Niña Aguilar testified Wednesday that banks verify transactions before filing suspicious transaction reports, considering factors, such as the amount involved and the absence of an apparent legal, trade or economic justification.

Aguilar told Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros that negative media reports may trigger an initial review, but banks conduct further checks before determining whether additional STRs should be filed. She said all reports undergo internal review and require her approval before submission to the AMLC.

Senator-judge Sherwin Gatchalian questioned Security Bank Branch Banking group head Leslie Cham regarding the specific grounds and red flags that prompted the bank to file STRs on Cale88 Foods Corp, including a transaction allegedly “not commensurate with the declared financial profile” of the customer.

Cham declined to discuss specific STRs, citing confidentiality rules.

‘Bank records don’t lie’

Malacañang said the bank records presented before the impeachment court carried significant evidentiary weight.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said the records would be difficult to dispute unless they had been tampered with.

“Bank records don’t lie,” Castro told reporters in Singapore.

She declined to predict the outcome of the impeachment case and said the public should focus on the evidence presented in court.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Castro also rejected former Duterte administration legal counsel Salvador Panelo’s accusation of political persecution, defending the impeachment proceedings as constitutional. —With reports from Keith Clores, Zacarian Sarao, and Gabryelle Dumalag