Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 24: Ex-Sandiganbayan chief testifies on unexplained wealth

Retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang took the witness stand on Day 24 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to testify on what is considered unexplained, ill-gotten and hidden wealth of public officials and the respective consequences for these individuals.

Tang’s testimony before the Senate impeachment court, however, faced opposition from the defense, which argued that it could improperly touch on conclusions of law.

Tang’s testimony was still allowed because it only “takes judicial notice mandatorily of the laws but not what the law means in a specific or particular case,” including the impeachment case against the Vice President.

The retired justice later said that a public official’s acquisition of unexplained wealth as defined by the Civil Forfeiture Law is a ground for removal from post.

Likewise, she said that cash on hand and cash in bank of government officials must be separately declared in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), and must not be lumped together with other properties.

To recall, the absence of Duterte’s cash in bank on her SALN declarations from 2019 to 2024 was flagged during the House justice committee hearing on the impeachment complaints against her.

Duterte and her husband, Manases "Mans" Carpio reportedly had a total net worth of P55 million in 2019. It grew to P56 million in 2020; P65 million in 2021; P71 million in 2022; P77 million in 2023; P88 million in 2024, excluding cash on hand and deposits.

Michael Poa, spokesperson for the Vice President’s defense team, explained that Duterte had no cash on hand declared in her official SALN since 2019 because it was "lumped" under the “others” line item.

Businesses, spouses

Further, Tang testified that the President and Vice President are barred by the Constitution from participating in any business "given the fact that the President and Vice President are the two highest officials of the land, there is the greater possibility of abuse in their office.”

While she was mostly composed during her almost four hours of testimony, she became visibly stern when she responded to defense lawyer Mark Vinluan’s question asking if she was promised anything for testifying before the Senate impeachment court.

“No. My testimony is not for sale,” she replied. said.

The impeachment trial hearing took a lighter turn when Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, a bachelor, was chided by his colleagues for asking Tang about why and how a public official should declare his or her spouse’s assets in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

Senators Francis Escudero and Francis Pangilinan hinted that Gatchalian might also be preparing for marriage with such questions.

Tang, for her part, explained that under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Babano v. Executive Secretary, a public official must declare the assets of his or her spouse in the SALN unless the couple agreed to a complete separation of property before their marriage.

“In the case of Rabusa v. Republic [Supreme Court decision], his wife should be able to show she legitimately acquired those properties. Otherwise, if she fails to show that she has no financial capacity to acquire those assets and these assets are traceable to the public officials, that becomes the property of the public official, including businesses, provided that the ownership of those assets is traceable to the public official,” Tang said.

The defense panel took the opportunity to raise President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s financial interests in some companies as reflected in his latest 2025 SALN, since Tang previously said that the President and Vice President are not allowed to participate in business interests as soon as they are elected to their respective posts.

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Pia Cayetano also raised concerns about supposed threats and intimidation against them.

Before the trial day ended, the Senate impeachment court ordered the Philippine National Bank and UnionBank to submit Vice President Sara Duterte's bank records by Thursday, September 17.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero said this is an extension of the initial timeframe the court provided, given the banks' request for more time to submit voluminous documents, and that the September 17 deadline is non-extendable.

Given Tang’s testimony, House prosecutor Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro party-list said that House prosecution team is considering presenting documents on the 19 overseas trips of Vice President Sara Duterte from 2025 to 2026 as evidence to prove its allegation of her accumulated unexplained wealth.

As this developed, the House prosecution panel also said that the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte has failed in its efforts to sabotage the testimony Tang, who was able to testify on the following key points:

· a public official with proven unexplained wealth can be removed from office

· cash on hand and cash in bank should be declared under cash category of the SALN, not under “others”

· government authorities can scrutinize the wealth of the public official’s immediate family such as spouse and children, because this will prevent public officials from using their family members to hide their money

· laws require a public official to declare his or her spouse’s assets under his/her SALN unless they have a prenuptial agreement of separation of assets. —LDF, GMA News