The Senate Impeachment Court has approved the House prosecution panel’s request to subpoena representatives of 14 banks, insurance companies and financial institutions as prosecutors present evidence in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
The subpoenas cover seven banks and seven insurance and financial companies. Their representatives are being asked to testify and produce specified records connected to the prosecution’s case under Article II, which involves allegations concerning unexplained wealth and incomplete or inaccurate financial disclosures.
The seven banks named in the subpoenas are Land Bank of the Philippines, Asia United Bank, Philippine Savings Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philippine National Bank and BDO Unibank.
The other seven institutions are Prudential Life, Allianz, Manufacturers Life, FWD Life, BPI-AIA Life, BDO Securities and BDO Life. The witnesses are expected to provide records that prosecutors say are relevant to their presentation of financial evidence.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero approved the subpoenas requiring the representatives to appear, testify and bring the requested documents. The bank representatives are scheduled to appear on October 6, following the testimony of a Bureau of Internal Revenue witness.
The defense requested advance copies of summaries and other documents that the witnesses intend to identify during their appearances. Escudero granted the request and directed the prosecution to provide the materials ahead of the scheduled testimony.
The move comes after the impeachment court earlier rejected the prosecution’s attempt to compel Duterte to respond to a Request for Admission concerning bank records. Prosecutors are now proceeding by establishing the relevant records through individual witnesses from the financial institutions.
The financial evidence is part of the prosecution’s broader presentation concerning Duterte’s declared assets and alleged discrepancies in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, or SALNs.
During the same proceedings, Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified before the impeachment court. His testimony could continue as prosecutors examine financial records and transactions relevant to the case.
Prosecutors also presented land records involving two properties associated with Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. The documents showed combined acquisition prices of approximately P9.45 million.
Davao City Register of Deeds Kathy Florence Baldonado testified about a 379-square-meter property in Matina, Davao City, which was purchased on July 2, 2024, for P6 million. The title lists Carpio as the registered owner and records his marriage to Duterte.
An annotation on the title also showed that Carpio and Duterte executed a real estate mortgage in favor of Philippine Savings Bank for P8 million. The mortgage was dated August 27, 2024, less than two months after the property was purchased.
House prosecutor Jonathan Keith Flores highlighted the sequence of the transactions during the hearing, pointing to the P6-million purchase in July followed by the P8-million mortgage in August.
When the land records were compared with Duterte’s 2025 SALN, Baldonado said she could not identify an entry that directly matched the property’s price and other details in the title. However, Escudero noted that the descriptions in the SALN were not detailed enough to establish a definitive correspondence with individual property titles.
Defense counsel Lindon Miguel Bacquel argued that the Matina property could correspond to an asset already included in Duterte’s SALN. He pointed out that Matina Crossing is also known as Barangay 74A, allowing the defense to present its explanation during cross-examination.
A second property in the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte, was also presented. The property was purchased in 2018 for P3,453,849 and remains registered to Carpio, according to the records presented in court.
Acting Register of Deeds Marco Pineda testified that when the 2018 Deed of Absolute Sale was compared with Duterte’s 2019 SALN based on the acquisition year, location and value, he could not find an entry that perfectly matched the property.
The prosecution has maintained that the significance of the documents goes beyond the ownership of individual properties and focuses on the completeness and accuracy of sworn financial declarations.
House prosecution adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers said the property records should be examined together with the relevant sworn declarations. Other prosecution representatives likewise emphasized that a SALN is a sworn declaration and that questions about omissions or discrepancies form part of the allegations being examined in the impeachment proceedings.
The prosecution has also distinguished the impeachment allegations from any potential criminal liability. Prosecution representatives said that while established discrepancies could be relevant to Article II of the impeachment case, any separate criminal allegation, including perjury, would require proof of the elements of the specific offense.
The latest subpoenas expand the impeachment court’s examination of financial records as the proceedings move deeper into evidence concerning Duterte’s assets, declarations and financial transactions.
The appearance of representatives from the 14 financial institutions is expected to provide the court with primary records and testimony that the prosecution intends to use in establishing its allegations. The defense will have an opportunity to examine the witnesses and challenge the interpretation or relevance of the records presented.
The proceedings remain ongoing, with additional witnesses and documentary evidence expected as both sides continue presenting their respective positions before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
