APRIL 27, 2026 — Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment storm has intensified after lawmakers revealed that the ₱6.77 billion flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) may only be the tip of the iceberg — potentially hiding even larger sums that never reached official scrutiny.

The AMLC confirmed that 663 transactions linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, were flagged between 2006 and 2025. These included 630 covered transactions (₱500,000 and above) and 33 suspicious transactions, totaling ₱6.77 billion. Of this, ₱4.42 billion were inflows, ₱1.55 billion outflows, and ₱791 million undetermined.

But Manila Rep. Joel Chua warned that these figures only reflect what banks are required to report. 

“It doesn’t mean that it is their total deposit. There could be more,” he said, stressing that smaller deposits below ₱500,000 are not automatically reported to the AMLC.

The defense and the gaps

Duterte’s camp insists the AMLC numbers are “bloated,” arguing they represent raw movement of funds over nearly two decades, not actual wealth. Spokesman Michael Poa said the figures should be read with caution, since they don’t reflect account balances.

Yet lawmakers like Rep. Terry Ridon countered that this defense only strengthens the impeachment case. 

“If this movement of huge money that cannot be explained is true, it means it qualifies to the issue of unexplained wealth and betrayal of public trust,” Ridon said.

The Ombudsman’s records show Duterte’s declared net worth rose from ₱7.25 million in 2007 to ₱88.51 million in 2024. The mismatch between her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) and the AMLC data is glaring.

At a time when jeepney drivers line up for cash aid and families struggle with rising food prices, the idea of billions quietly moving through accounts tied to the Vice President feels like a slap in the face. Transparency is not optional — it’s a constitutional duty.

The AMLC itself emphasized that it doesn’t look at personalities but at patterns. 

“What we focus on … is the movement, flow and the frequency of flows, and whether there is anything unusual in that flow,” AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura told lawmakers.

And unusual is an understatement. Records show Duterte’s transactions spiked to ₱704.93 million in 2009, ₱648.58 million in 2010, and ₱597.15 million in 2011 — amounts far beyond the declared assets of a public servant.

If billions can move through the accounts of the country’s second-highest official without clear explanation, what does that say about accountability in government?

The House justice committee is expected to vote soon on whether there is probable cause to proceed with Duterte’s impeachment. If it does, the trial will force the Vice President to confront the documents, the transactions, and the questions she has so far avoided.

At the end of the day, with billions in transactions still unexplained, don’t you agree it’s time for Sara Duterte to stop dismissing the numbers and give the public a clear, honest account of where the money really came from?

We need to hear it straight from her — no alibis, no wordplay, just the truth behind the billions.

(Image: Inday Sara Duterte | Facebook)