The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Lorna Kapunan said she believed that the House of Representatives Committee on Justice has seen and heard enough – from the discrepancies in Vice President Sara Duterte's declared net worth to the flagged bank transactions – to find probable cause to impeach her. “Na-meet na ng House Committee on Justice ‘yung target nila na (The House Committee on Justice has already met its target) to prove probable cause, that a crime was committed, that a violation of law was committed, and that the Vice President is probably guilty thereof. Hindi naman (But it's not) guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” she said in a radio interview on Friday. The veteran litigator also warned the public not to be swayed by the vice president's press releases, her defense team, or online trolls seeking to discredit the non-disclosure findings in Duterte's Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council's (AMLC) report. “No spin can change what is already on official record,” she said. “Siguro naman sa dami ng ebidensya, follow the numbers. Huwag tayong maniwala sa mga press release, sa mga trolls, sa mga statements outside the Committee on Justice. Maniwala tayo sa numbers (With all the evidence, follow the numbers. Don’t believe the press releases, trolls, and statements outside the Committee on Justice. Believe in the numbers). Let the numbers speak for themselves.” Kapunan noted that the evidence shown were official records of government agencies: the Office of the Ombudsman for the SALNs; the AMLC reporting on suspicious and covered transactions; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the companies of the Vice President and her husband, Manases Carpio. The records, she said, speak for themselves and raise legitimate questions that cannot be ignored. “So, these are records, they don't lie. Kung litigation ang pinag-uusapan natin, nandyan na ang (When speaking of litigation, there is already the presence of) hard evidence, documentary from official sources. This is not opinion, this is not hearsay. These are documents,” Kapunan said. During the April 22 hearing, committee members uncovered a more than elevenfold jump in Duterte's net worth, from PHP7.2 million in 2007 to PHP88.4 million in 2024. Despite the dramatic surge, it also found that she had failed to report her cash on hand and bank deposits under personal assets in her SALNs from 2019 to 2024. Meanwhile, the AMLC reported to the justice panel that more than 600 transactions worth PHP6.7 billion from Duterte and her husband's bank accounts had been flagged as covered or suspicious from 2006 to 2025. The AMLC also confirmed that 19 of the bank transaction entries presented by former Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV matched its own records on the same dates and amounts, including the PHP22 million Duterte had allegedly received from Samuel “Sammy” Uy, a purported drug lord and close business associate of the Duterte family. Kapunan, meanwhile, noted that the Committee on Justice has given the Vice President ample opportunity to address the allegations and defend herself, but instead, the defense team filed a non-answer and Duterte continues to shun the hearings. She emphasized that Duterte cannot hide behind jurisdictional arguments to avoid attending the hearings, pointing out that the Constitution itself grants the House the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings. Moreover, she noted, the hearings are clarificatory rather than evidentiary, meaning the Committee on Justice is simply examining the facts cited in the impeachment complaints and giving the respondent the opportunity to be heard before ruling on probable cause. Duterte's defense team also cannot claim to be “surprised” at the evidence and testimonies being examined, she said, given that “all hearings are being televised and subpoenas publicly issued.” The Committee on Justice is set to hold its final hearing on April 29, where the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will present its findings on the alleged death threats Duterte made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The panel will then vote on whether probable cause exists for each allegation in the impeachment complaints.
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