Barbers: SALN disclosure, not value of VP Duterte guns, the issue

MANILA, Philippines — The point of the House prosecution panel was not the value of the firearms of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, but whether they were properly disclosed in her sworn statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth, former Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, House prosecution adviser and spokesperson, said on Monday.

In a post-trial news briefing, Barbers pointed out that the vice president, if she really had a net worth of P98 million, would be able to afford P7 million.

Barbers rounded off the P7.22 million, the amount given by Maj. Joe Rickson Sangalang of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) during direct examination by prosecutor Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora.

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Sangalang said that was the combined value of the vice president’s 22 registered firearms and her husband’s 29 firearms, although he clarified that the figure did not represent the actual acquisition costs.

But Barber insisted that the amount was not the issue, as the prosecution presented the records to support its allegation that Duterte failed to fully disclose her assets in her SALN.

He maintained that firearms form part of personal property that should be reflected in a SALN. If they had been declared, there would be no questions about it.

Earlier, Rep. Gerville Luistro, the lead prosecutor, similarly defended Sangalang’s presentation, saying the prosecution considered the firearms relevant because they form part of Duterte’s personal assets.

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Zamora also cited the 2025 guidelines on SALN declarations during the proceedings as expressly requiring firearms to be declared.

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Duterte’s defense countered that the 2025 guidelines apply only to SALNs filed beginning in 2026 and questioned the relevance of the current market value of the firearms to her previous declarations.

The firearms records were presented under the second impeachment article involving Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth and alleged failure to truthfully disclose her assets. /atm