Trial Digs Into Bank Accounts: Prosecutors Say the Dutertes' Millions Do Not Match Declared Income
The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte pressed on with Article II, the unexplained-wealth charge, on October 7. Philstar's recap of the day's proceedings showed prosecutors working from bank and tax records to compare, item by item, the scale of funds held by Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio against their declared income, arguing that millions of pesos cannot be explained by lawful earnings.
The testimony dovetailed with earlier days: land-registry evidence on declaration gaps, anti-money-laundering testimony on flagged flows, and now bank records on scale — a sequence the prosecution designed to culminate in a forensic accounting summary. Senator-judges repeatedly asked about when accounts were opened, where funds came from and which declaration years they belonged to, signalling a court proceeding account by account.
The defense worked point by point in the other direction: challenging how the bank records were obtained, disputing the link between some accounts and Duterte herself, and insisting the couple's business income is documented. Duterte has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and cast the trial as political persecution.
Now in its 14th week, the trial is approaching the prosecution's finale: forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera is set to appear as its final witness and consolidate the financial testimony into a single total figure — the centrepiece of Article II and the evidence on which senator-judges' votes may turn.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾中央银行（BSP）巴科洛德大楼。摄影：Herbertkikoy，CC BY-SA 4.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons
