AMLC testimony on VP Sara, Mans' bank records moved to Monday, Oct. 5, 2026

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The Senate impeachment court has ruled that the presentation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council's (AMLC) reports on covered and suspicious transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio will begin on Monday, October 5.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero made the ruling after defense counsel Sheila Sison objected to the prosecution’s scheduled presentation on Thursday, saying they only got the summaries of AMLC reports around 11 a.m. on that day.

“I did not consider the sidebar of Attorney Sheila [Sison of the defense] as a motion for reconsideration [of an earlier ruling]. On the requested time of the respondent to prepare to adequately prepare for the AMLC…out of courtesy and equity, the chair grants the time requested by the counsel for the correspondent for time to prepare for the cross examination, rather, to prepare for the direct and cross examination of the AMLC witness on Monday,” Escudero added.

The earlier ruling being referred to by Escudero was issued by the impeachment court last July 20 wherein the court noted that while Section 8A of the Anti-Money Laundering Law regulates unauthorized and arbitrary disclosures by AMLC personnel, the provision “does not constitutionally and cannot nullify the lawful subpoena powers of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.”

It was House prosecutor Chel Diokno of Akbayan party-list who invoked the ruling, saying the same court decision also states that a compliance with the lawful constitutional subpoena, including that of the Senate impeachment court, “is a justifying circumstance that, if at all, would extinguish any penal liability under Article 11, Paragraph 6 of the Revised Penal Code for any person acting in obedience to an order issued by a superior or some other lawful purpose.”

House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro earlier told the Senate impeachment court that their witness, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, would testify on the following documents:

• Summary of covered transaction reports (CTRs) and suspicious transaction reports (STRs) submitted by the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to the Senate Impeachment court
• Summary of all CTRs and STRs involving 15 juridical persons from 2007 to 2025
• Summary of all CTRs and STRs involving Vice President Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio from 2022 to 2025
• Summary of CTRs and STRs involving the 15 juridical persons from 2022 to 2025
• Summary of CTRs and STRs pertaining to inward remittances to Calle 88 Foods Corporations from China and other countries
• Summary of CTRs and STRs involving insurance policies and investment-related transactions.

In a separate press conference, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan argued that the laws are clear that the impeachment case is not covered by existing laws on confidentiality of bank records and bank transactions.

"The impeachment proceeding is an exception to the rules on Bank Secrecy and AMLA [Anti-Money Laundering Act] and the rules on confidentiality. The defense's argument [against it] will not hold," Kapunan said.

House hearings

During the House justice panel hearings on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, Buenaventura testified that bank transactions totaling P6.7 billion—classified as covered and suspicious—were recorded under the names of the Vice President and her husband, Manases Carpio.

Of the total amount, P3.7 billion was attributed to the Vice President, while P2.998 billion was linked to Carpio.

The report also identified P791 million in transactions as having undetermined inflows and outflows.

“Vice President Sara Duterte’s accounts generated a total of 371 large transactions and 30 suspicious transactions from Oct. 13, 2005 to Jan. 28, 2026, with transaction amounts reaching as high as P55.158 million,” Buenaventura said, reading from the report submitted to the House justice panel.

“A review of the identified inflow transactions shows total inflows of approximately P1.51 billion, recorded only from 2006 to 2022. These inflows are largely dominated by credit memo transactions amounting to P1.41 billion, which account for the majority of recorded inflows. Other notable sources include check deposits totaling P48.33 million, deposit transactions amounting to P45.73 million, and cash deposits of P4.95 million,” the AMLC report added. — BM, GMA News