52 firearms undeclared in VP’s SALN – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — Aside from cash deposits, 52 firearms were undeclared in the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio, a congressman-prosecutor in her impeachment case revealed yesterday.

“This will be among the properties we will be requesting for a subpoena when the trial starts. As far as we are concerned, this may not be totally relevant to us as to why do they have so many firearms, but the point here is these were not declared in her SALNs,” Rep. Terry Ridon pointed out.

“This is very important to us because these should not have been concealed, these should have been listed in her SALNs basically because she is no less than the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines,” Ridon, Bicol Saro party-list congressman, told reporters.

The firearms, of varying make and caliber, were registered with the Philippine National Police. Of the 52 firearms, 23 belong to Duterte while the remaining 29 were registered in Carpio’s name.

The Duterte firearms issue is in the pre-trial brief submitted by the House prosecution panel to the Senate impeachment court, according to Ridon, who chairs the public accounts committee.

Ridon said a representative from the PNP’s Firearms and Explosives Office would be subpoenaed in the impeachment trial, along with the dealers of the firearms, to determine their value.

He noted that the late chief justice Renato Corona was convicted by an impeachment court on the basis of non-declaration in his SALN. “We really have to be fair here. It has to be the same treatment, the non-disclosure of our VP in her SALNs.”

Lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said the Duterte camp is expected to move heaven and earth to block the appearance in her impeachment trial of bank executives and officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Council who could shed light on her alleged P6.7-billion total assets.

“As early as now, we anticipate already that we will feel the challenge during presentation here in the unexplained wealth. As a matter of fact, if you remember during the justice committee hearing, they filed criminal cases against us,” Luistro said, referring to the complaints filed by the Duterte camp against the lawmakers for alleged violation of confidentiality in the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

She said most of the 50 prosecution witnesses to be presented would likely be “hostile witnesses” who had worked under Duterte in the Office of the VP and the Department of Education.

The defense team also has several witnesses to present during her trial, according to its spokesman Michael Poa.

“We have submitted all of our witnesses that we are looking to present, documentary evidence that we are looking to present,” Poa said. He declined to share details, citing rules of the Senate impeachment court.

“All we can say is, of course, this is the process. As you can see, we are following the process and we are looking forward to the pre-trial conference,” Poa added.

VP, husband declare P98.66 million assets

Meanwhile, a copy of the 2025 SALN of Duterte and her husband obtained by The STAR showed their declared wealth at P98.66 million or P10 million higher than in the previous year’s P88.512 million. Like in her 2024 SALN, Duterte did not declare cash on hand and in bank in her SALN for 2025.

The Duterte couple’s total assets totaled P122.797 million, comprising P81.308 million worth of real properties and P41.488 million worth of personal properties.

Their total declared assets in 2025 were higher than in 2024 due to Duterte’s acquisition of a condominium unit with a parking slot in San Juan City worth P10 million.

The Dutertes listed a total of 31 real property items, including lots, houses, lands and condominium units. Eleven of these were named under the Vice President’s spouse Manases Carpio while two were named under their children – whose names had been redacted.

The Duterte couple’s total liabilities in 2025 stood at P24.141 million, more than double the previous year’s P9.95 million. — Daphne Galvez, Bella Cariaso