Sara Duterte denies hand in joint bank account with dad Rodrigo

The defense panel on Wednesday said Vice President Sara Duterte does not recall having or participating in transactions involving a joint Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) account under her name and that of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, which was supposedly used to purchase a P41.7-million manager’s check.

Defense counsel Michael Poa made the statement on Day 35 of the impeachment trial after Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros asked whether the flagged P41.7-million manager’s check was owned and controlled by Rodrigo Duterte, and not the Vice President.

“To better phrase it, our client does not have any recollection of this account,” Poa said, adding that the matter was only raised during a previous hearing of the House Quad Committee.

“Nung lumabas ang mga accounts, tinitignan namin itong mga accounts na ito and I was asked by the Vice President to verify kasi hindi niya natatandaan na may ganitong account at wala daw siyang transaksyon,” he added.

(When these accounts surfaced, we examined them, and the Vice President asked me to verify them because she did not recall having such an account and said she had no transactions involving it.)

If that is the case, Hontiveros asked whether the Vice President was attributing the flagged transactions solely to her father.

“Ang sinasabi lang po niya ay wala siyang naging partisipasyon dito,” Poa answered.

(What she is saying is that she had no participation in these.)

The defense counsel also said they did not wish to prejudice the former president or his counsel regarding whatever legal defenses they may have concerning the accounts.

The prosecution earlier flagged a P41.7-million manager’s check linked to Rodrigo and Sara Duterte that was supposedly “floating” for years and was not reflected in year-end balances.

A prosecution witness, BPI division head for Central Manila branches Marwin Galvez, confirmed the existence of a joint peso time deposit opened on January 22, 2010, at the bank’s Julia Vargas Branch in Pasig City under the name “Rodrigo Roa Duterte or Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Sara Z. Duterte,” with a principal amount of P40.65 million.

Galvez said the time deposit had 12 rollover periods or renewals. At the last renewal in February 2011, the amount had increased to P41.7 million, including interest.

The witness said that in March 2011, a credit and debit memo showed that a manager’s check worth P41.7 million was purchased. The manager’s check, however, remained unutilized after its six-month validity period.

The transaction was among the financial records being presented in support of Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment, which centers on the allegation that Duterte accumulated unexplained wealth and failed to fully disclose her assets and interests in her SALNs.

Private prosecutor James Bryan Alih said the prosecution intended to prove a “pattern,” in which a transaction in 2011 moved around for several more years and was later used to purchase insurance policies.

Responding to an inquiry by Senator-Judge Francis Pangilinan, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero confirmed that while the signature of the Vice President did not appear in any transaction involving account ending in 9539.

"We confirm, as well, the statement made by Attorney James that the signature of the Vice President appears in the document that opened the account, as well as in the signature sheet or KYC (know-your-client) documents for July 2020 and July 25, 2017.

The signature of the Vice President also appears in the KYC document for June 13, 2023, Escudero said.

'Why involve Rodrigo?'

In his interjection, Senator-Judge Robin Padilla questioned the repeated mention of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s name during Galvez’s direct examination.

“Kanina pa po kasi nababanggit ang pangalan ng dating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Hindi ko alam bakit kailangang idamay pa dito ang matanda. Masasabi po niyan, may ginawa bang kalokohan ’yung matanda?” Padilla asked.

(The name of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has been mentioned repeatedly. I don’t know why it is necessary to drag the old man into this. Did the old man do anything wrong?)

The bank official answered, “Not in the documents that we submitted, Your Honor.”— MCG, GMA News

Follow GMA News Online on Facebook for real-time news and developments in the Philippines and around the world.