NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag said they had found possible discrepancies between the properties declared by Vice President Sara Duterte in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and the actual number of land assets she and her family have.
In a press conference Monday, October 12, 2026, Matibag said the initial findings were part of their investigation into the affidavit of dismissed police officer Rudolfo Gracioso Jr., a former security aide to former House speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
In his affidavit, Gracioso claimed to have delivered millions of pesos in cash to the Dutertes when Velasco was still the head of the House of Representatives.
“The Gracioso affidavit showed us the pattern na kapag sinundan natin, there are money deliveries, pero saan dinala ‘yung pera?” Matibag said.
(The Gracioso affidavit showed us a pattern. If we follow it, there were money deliveries, but where was the money taken.)
Gracioso also claimed in his affidavit that his former boss invested the money in what he referred to as “land banking,” or purchasing parcels of land and other real properties, including resorts and mansions.
Matibag raised the possibility that the Dutertes were also involved in land banking.
He said more than 100 properties were believed to be owned by the Dutertes.
Matibag said Duterte had declared at least 24 properties in her SALN.
He said they were looking into the data stated in the SALN and comparing it with other documents and surveillance findings.
“We are investigating this because we are following a pattern that was established in the Gracioso affidavit. It appears that the money was put into land banking and we are looking seriously into this,” Matibag said.
Matibag also noted the disparity between the declared values of the properties in the SALN and their condition and actual worth.
Showing photos and surveillance videos of the properties, he said two agricultural properties declared in Duterte’s SALN were valued at P437,000 and P453,000.
However, after NBI agents verified the properties using other documents and aerial surveillance, Matibag said the two properties were no longer agricultural land and that their values had increased to around P40 million to P60 million following improvements.
“These are the initial results that we will submit either to the Office of the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice for legal action,” Matibag said.
Aside from the Vice President, the NBI is also looking into the properties of her siblings.
Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero noted on Tuesday, October 7, 2026, the disparity between the total net worth of the Vice President and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, as declared in their joint SALNs from 2007 to 2025 and the amount of inflows and outflows in their bank accounts.
Escudero said P424 million went in and out of the couple’s bank accounts from 2022 to 2025, while their combined SALN net worth during the same period stood at only P336 million.
Duterte and Carpio declared no cash on hand from 2019 to 2024, based on their SALNs. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)