VP Sara Duterte's camp: AMLC exec's testimony doesn't prove money illegally sourced

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The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday shrugged off claims that the testimony of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura during the impeachment trial supposedly confirmed the allegations made by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, saying that the witness did not prove that the funds were illegally sourced.

In a statement, Atty. Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr., Duterte’s spokesperson, said that Buenaventura only testified on covered and suspicious transactions reports filed by banks.

“If anything was confirmed, it is only that Trillanes obtained his information illegally in violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act and Bank Secrecy Laws,” Panelo said.

“[Buenaventura] did not, because he could not, confirm, and the prosecution still has to prove, that any money attributed to the Vice President was illegally sourced, was hidden, or was even hers to begin with,” he added.

To recall, Trillanes accused the Vice President and her husband, lawyer Maneses Carpio, of respectively accepting P150 million and P319 million through their separate organizations.

He also alleged that Duterte failed to declare in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth her peso and dollar time deposit and insurance.

During the impeachment trial on Monday, Buenaventura testified that the AMLC recorded P4.4 billion in covered and suspicious bank transactions under the names of Duterte and Carpio.

The AMLC official also confirmed that Cale88 Foods Corporation, a company linked to Carpio, received P319 million from China and Hong Kong.

Duterte’s spokesman slammed Trillanes’ claims, calling the former senator a “professional anti-Duterte propagandist.”

“Trillanes is no truth-teller. He is a professional anti-Duterte propagandist who tried to fill the gaps in the prosecution’s evidence with hearsay, rumors, malicious speculation, and outright lies, delivered at a press conference where none of it could be scrutinized,” Panelo said.

“Senator-Judge Lacson himself has confirmed that his accusations have no probative value. His allegations are better suited for the parlor, not the court,” he added.

GMA News Online reached out to Trillanes regarding the matter, but said he has “no comment” as of posting time. —VAL, GMA News