Sara is guilty

After 43 trial days, it should be obvious to us that Vice President Sara Z. Duterte is guilty – on all the four charges leveled against her by the Impeachment Court Prosecution – misuse of confidential and intelligence funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and grave threats.

The Prosecution withdrew three of the four charges – misuse of confidential funds, bribery and grave threats – but not after shaming her on national tv for three months for her depredation and acts of corruption.

The remaining case is unexplained wealth.  She is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence, the paper trail, the documents and testimonies are compelling and convincing. Sara Duterte has unexplained wealth. She is a multi-millionaire. She is a multi-billionaire, with wealth of from P800 million to P1.5 billion to as high as P6 billion (an estimate given me by an intel agent).

The Prosecution’s forensic expert – CPA-lawyer Alexander Cabrera – testified that Duterte and her spouse, lawyer Manases Carpio, had an estimated P817.87 million to a maximum of P1.5 billion in undeclared or unexplained assets based on statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) and bank/tax records from 2022 to 2025.

Sara enriched herself while holding public office. As VP, she owned, invested in and engaged in businesses – contrary to the Constitution’s ban on the president and vice president of the Philippines from engaging in any business. 

Sara is the Jollibee Queen of the Philippine south, with no less than five hamburger and chicken franchises in busy districts of Davao City. An investment of P47,000 made when she was just seven years old was collected at its present value of P2.1 million. Her lawyer calls it a return of (the) capital. Others call it a return on capital – what you get or earn at the end of the period for making savvy investments. Whatever you call the so-called “loose investments,” it is proof that Sara was engaged in business even she was already the VP in July 2022. 

Sara also monopolized lucrative contracts dished out by Davao City while her brother was its mayor. GenCorp Industries, Inc., a company where Vice President Sara Duterte declared an ownership interest and incorporator/stockholder status in her SALNs – secured millions of pesos in food and catering contracts from the Davao City local government unit (LGU) and regional offices between 2022 and 2026

The contracts ranged from about P15 million to over P34.2 million or up to P35.9 million in combined government contracts across multiple transactions (including 11 to 19+ specific food supply and catering contracts). PhilGEPS officials revealed that several of the contracts involved alternative modes of procurement rather than open public biddings. GenCorp also secured smaller contracts with PhilHealth-Davao Region (P1.33 million) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regional office (P330,000).

While VP, she also received substantial amounts as back pay or salary increases that were not apparently paid while she was mayor. “What are we in power for?” A corrupt senator once harrumphed. The senator was later ousted by his colleagues.

Will Sara be ousted as vice president? That seems a forgone conclusion. The impeachment court has the required 14 votes (even the 16) or two-thirds vote to convict Sara. And she cannot run to the Supreme Court to ask for help. With a new chief justice and a new associate justice, the 15-man high tribunal has never been more balanced – in favor of the Marcos administration.

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I would like to thank FAMAS for honoring metas the BizNewsAsia founder, president and CEO “for recognizing the importance of accurate reporting, insightful analysis and understanding the business landscape.”

FAMAS said, “This accuracy underscores the vital role of responsible journalism in promoting transparency, informing the public and providing valuable perspectives on economic developments and market trends.”

Through this recognition, FAMAS said, “Tony Lopez exemplifies journalistic integrity and reinforces the power of credible reporting in shaping informed decisions and advancing economic awareness.”

With 57 years of professional journalism focused on the economy and business, I am the country’s most senior journalist.

I received this FAMAS trophy from FAMAS president Francia Camacho Conrado and FAMAS Prestige International chair Dr. Nona Ricafort, Oct. 27, 2026, at the Manila Hotel.

According to FAMAS Prestige Awards International chair Dr. Ricafort, fulfilling one’s role in real life is even more difficult than fulfilling an actor’s role in a movie. The challenges are demanding.

In the case of the journalism profession, the Philippines is rated as the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Since the so-called restoration of Philippine democracy in February 1986, 200 journalists have been killed by enemies of press freedom. The suspects are bad and corrupt politicians, police and military men and crime syndicates. Occasionally, there are allegations of love triangles.

Did you know, journalism is the only profession whose free and untrammeled exercise is guaranteed by the Constitution – no law, not accounting, not engineering, not thievery. Only journalism has the constitutional guarantee. 

Article III Section 4 of the Philippine Constitution declares: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

These are so-called First Amendment rights embodied in the United States Constitution which says: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

These rights typically associated with the US First Amendment – such as freedom of religion, speech, expression, the press, peaceful assembly and petition – are enshrined in Article III (Bill of Rights) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution across Section 4 and Section 5, alongside Article II, Section 6. 

The freedom of the press guards against prior restraint and media censorship.

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