Follow-Up: Sara Duterte's Defense Drops All 16 Bank Witnesses as P817 Million Unexplained-Wealth Claim Goes Unanswered
By the end of Day 43 of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial on November 12, the gap in the defense's financial case stood out: the defense had withdrawn all 16 bank officials it once planned to call, while the prosecution's estimate of at least P817 million in unexplained wealth remained without a direct answer.
The withdrawals came in two steps. Defense spokesperson Michael Poa announced on November 11 that, to save time and shorten the proceedings, the team was dropping 15 bank representatives, keeping only Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) senior vice president Paul Roderick Ysmael to testify on November 12. On November 12 the defense withdrew Ysmael as well, saying he had been called only to authenticate a letter he himself wrote and had already acknowledged its authorship in open court. None of the 16 took the stand. They had been subpoenaed to testify on accounts held by Duterte individually or jointly with her husband, Manases Carpio.
Private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih told the court on November 12 that additional documents submitted by BPI included a letter confirming that Duterte maintained dollar accounts at the bank. Prosecution member Chua said that if the dollar accounts were confirmed, the scale of undeclared assets could exceed P817 million. Presiding officer Escudero halted the discussion, saying the court had not yet formally received and examined the documents.
The prosecution's figure comes from forensic accounting expert Alexander Cabrera, who testified that Duterte and her husband accumulated at least P817.87 million in unexplained wealth and undeclared assets between 2022 and 2025. Prosecution spokesperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the six witnesses the defense presented over its first four days explained items such as a Tokyo dinner of about P200,000 and shoes of about P250,000, together less than P500,000, far from P817 million. Prosecution legal spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa said the defense had yet to challenge the existence or authenticity of the accounts the prosecution presented.
One defense witness on November 12, lawyer Anel Martin Antero, testified about a March 2025 dinner in Tokyo costing about P200,000 charged to Carpio's credit card. Court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said the defense would present eight to ten more witnesses. Only Article II of the impeachment complaint remains, covering unexplained wealth and alleged false asset declarations, and the trial continues.
(Source: Senate of the Philippines)
Source: Senate of the Philippines
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾副总统莎拉·杜特尔特官方肖像（资料图）。照片：菲律宾副总统办公室，公共领域，经维基共享资源，本站档案复用。 / Photo: Official portrait of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte (file photo). Photo by the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; GSM archive reuse.
