Sara, Duterte's P96 million manager’s checks not declared in SALN

MANILA, Philippines — More than P96 million of Vice President Sara Duterte’s joint bank deposits with her father was concealed in manager’s checks and was not declared in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), testimonies on Day 35 yesterday of her impeachment trial revealed.

Hearing the testimony of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Metro Manila branches division head Marwin Galvez, senators said they found it disturbing that any bank client can apply for manager’s check to hide some of his or her financial holdings.

Galvez’s revelations followed questioning from private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih on the joint time deposit account of the Vice President and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte. The account was created in 2010 and used for buying manager’s checks beginning 2012.

The manager’s checks were then used to “float” the sum of P41.7 million in “limbo” so that the Dutertes need not declare the amount in their SALNs.

Alih said there was another check for P55 million that was “running in circles in the same years,” bringing the total of floating funds to P96 million.

Galvez also confirmed that four separate “peso” plans worth P20 million each, for a total of P80 million, were purchased from BPI-Philamlife Assurance Corp.

The funds were sourced from the same joint account of the Dutertes in BPI-Julia Vargas branch.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III likened the tack to the folk dance “tinikling,” characterized by rhythmic movement of feet to avoid touching clapping bamboo poles.

He said he borrowed the term from a “banker friend” who explained to him that public officials resort to manager’s checks to avoid declaring a portion of their wealth, by returning the money to its source bank account after the year-end Dec. 31 cut-off date for assets declaration.

The amount in the manager’s check will not reflect in the end-balance while it is in “limbo.”

Galvez said he is not aware of the use of the term “tinikling” in banking terms.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson asked the witness if only government officials apply for manager’s checks before year-end, to which a smiling Galvez replied he has “no personal knowledge.”

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said he checked the 2010 and 2011 SALNs of the Vice President and saw no time deposit account indicated.

‘Not uncommon’

Asked by Sen. Bam Aquino if utilizing a manager’s check to hide money for a period of six months with the bank’s “settlement account” was a common “scheme,” Galvez said the practice was “not uncommon.”

When Sen. Francis Pangilinan asked if the Vice President signed her name in the documents of the time deposit account, the witness said she and her father signed the “Know Your Client” documents when the deposit was opened in 2010, and even in 2023, during the Vice President’s incumbency. But only the elder Duterte signed the manager’s check, Galvez told the senator-judges.

Coming to the defense of the former president, Sen. Robin Padilla asked Galvez if the documents would show that the elder Duterte had committed any wrongdoing. “Not in the documents that we submitted,” Galvez replied.

Also revealed at yesterday’s proceedings was Duterte’s updating her bank records for a joint account with her father as recently as 2023, contradicting her lawyers’ assertions that she was unaware of the account’s activities.

While noting that the Vice President did not sign for specific transactions, including those involving a check paid to Davao City businessman Sammy Uy, presiding officer Francis Escudero confirmed that her signature appeared on multiple foundational and updated documents for the BPI account ending in 9539.

“We confirm that based on the documents submitted by BPI that the signature of the Vice President does not appear in any transaction insofar as account ending 9539 is concerned,” Escudero said, stressing that documents were reviewed by the impeachment clerk of court.

However, Escudero noted that bank records proved she actively maintained the account.

“We confirm as well the statement made by attorney James (Alih of the prosecution) that the signature of the Vice President appears in the document that opened the account, also in the signature sheet or KYC for July 25, 2017 and also the KYC document... for June 13, 2023,” Escudero said. KYC stands for know your client.

No knowledge

Earlier in the proceedings, Sen. Risa Hontiveros grilled defense counsel Michael Poa over the same BPI account linked to a P41-million manager’s check.

Poa presented a formal inquiry his firm sent to BPI asserting that the Vice President had “no knowledge, participation or recollection” of maintaining the accounts.

When Hontiveros asked if the defense was effectively pointing to her co-depositor and father as the sole controller of the funds, Poa clarified that “ang sinasabi lang po niya ay wala siyang naging partisipasyon dito She’s just saying she had no participation).”

Poa added that he did not want to prejudice any legal defenses the former president might raise regarding the accounts.

Cal88 Foods

Also at Duterte’s impeachment trial yesterday, it was gleaned from bank records that over P40 million flowed in and out of the peso account of CALE88 Foods Corp. in 2024 despite closing the year with a balance of just over P330,000.

Questioning Security Bank executive Leslie Cham, Sen. Raffy Tulfo pointed to an apparent discrepancy between the account’s P332,530 ending balance for 2024 and a forensic report reflecting more than P40 million.

Cham clarified that while the year-end balance was low, the actual transaction volume saw P40.13 million enter the account and P40 million leave during that year.

For 2025, Cham added that P6.26 million was deposited in the account.

Tulfo also asked if branch managers or bank vice presidents could bypass documentation requirements to accommodate massive deposits, such as P5 million, and rely on client’s promise of submitting proof later.

Cham maintained that the bank strictly requires supporting documents to verify the source of funds before clearing such transactions and does not accept “to follow” justifications.

Two checking accounts of Cale88 were closed in July this year, the same month that her impeachment trial began. Duterte’s impeachment trial started on July 6.

FWD Life Insurance Corp. chief legal and compliance officer Juan Sotero Roman said authenticated company records showed Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio as holder of a P10.6-million policy dated May 16, 2024. He said the policy carried a sum assured, or face value, of P13.25 million.

Roman also confirmed that a multimillion-peso premium could be paid in one go, although the amount would depend on the type of insurance product purchased. Carpio’s P10.6-million policy remains active, according to Roman.

Also during yesterday’s proceedings, lawyer Niña Ferren Aguilar of the Anti-Money Laundering Division of Metrobank said the account of one of the minor children of the Duterte-Carpio couple had an end-of-year-balance of P1.8 million in 2022, P1.3 million in 2023, P1.458 million in 2024, P1.459 million in 2025. - Neil Jayson Servallos, Daphne Galvez