MANILA, Philippines – On Day 34 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, the defense resumes its cross-examination of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Secretariat Executive Director, lawyer Ronel Buenaventura, as the court continues examining financial records involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
READ: Highlights: Day 33 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 5, 2026
Key developments:
- The defense had earlier opposed Buenaventura’s presentation as a witness, citing financial confidentiality laws. The impeachment court, however, ruled that bank secrecy protections are not absolute in accountability proceedings.
- Buenaventura earlier testified that banks reported 666 covered transactions exceeding P500,000 and 55 suspicious transactions involving Duterte and Carpio from 2007 to 2025, totaling P4.4 billion.
- The AMLC official confirmed that inward financial transactions from mainland China and Hong Kong to Carpio’s CALE88 Foods Corp. amounted to P319,326,770.41, a figure close to what former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV had earlier alleged.
- He also testified that joint accounts of Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, recorded P193,705,615.88 in transactions in a single day on March 28, 2014.
- Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan questioned whether the reported transactions accounted for the repeated movement or “rotation” of the same funds.
- Vinluan warned Buenaventura and members of the media about possible violations of bank secrecy laws, drawing criticism from some senator-judges over what they described as the “chilling” or “threatening” tone of the questioning.
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