ICYMI: Sara Duterte impeachment trial Week 14 highlights

MANILA, Philippines – Financial forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera testified before the Senate impeachment court that Vice President Sara Duterte had P817.87 million in alleged undeclared assets and unexplained wealth from 2022 to 2025, capping a week marked by the prosecution’s withdrawal of the bribery charge, scrutiny of financial records, and threats by some senator-judges to skip proceedings.

READ: ICYMI: Sara Duterte impeachment trial Week 13 highlights

Day 33 (Oct. 5, 2026)

• Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified that 666 covered transaction reports and 55 suspicious transaction reports involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, totaled P4.4 billion.
• Buenaventura confirmed that Cale88 Foods Corp., linked to Carpio, received P319.33 million in inward transactions from mainland China and Hong Kong. Sen. Risa Hontiveros noted that some of the Chinese firms involved were state-owned, although Buenaventura said AMLC records alone did not conclusively establish this.
• Presiding Officer Francis Escudero rejected the defense’s attempt to block Buenaventura’s testimony on bank secrecy grounds, citing an exception under Republic Act No. 1405 for impeachment cases.
• Four senator-judges criticized defense counsel Mark Vinluan for raising possible administrative and criminal penalties against those who disclose AMLC information, including members of the media. Defense spokesperson Michael Poa later said the defense had not intended to threaten anyone.
• The prosecution formally manifested its withdrawal of Article III, the bribery charge, citing time constraints. Prosecutor Jonathan Keith Flores confirmed the filing.

READ: Highlights: Day 33 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 5, 2026

Day 34 (Oct. 6, 2026)

• On the 34th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, the prosecution presented Land Bank of the Philippines R. Magsaysay Branch Manager Raquel dela Cerna, who testified about the year-end balances of Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, in an account ending in 2730, covering 2022 to 2025. 
• A second LBP witness, San Pedro branch head Eunice Sumatra, was also called to the stand on Tuesday as the prosecution continued building its case on financial records tied to the couple.
• The proceedings drew renewed attention to the P4.4-billion financial trail involving Duterte and Carpio, comprising 666 covered transaction reports and 55 suspicious transaction reports filed with the Anti-Money Laundering Council from 2007 to 2025.  

READ: Highlights: Day 34 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 6, 2026

Day 35 (Oct. 7, 2026)

• Representatives of banks and other financial institutions testified about accounts allegedly linked to Duterte and Carpio. The prosecution cited at least 30 accounts across eight banks, with balances it said were not reflected in Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
• Security Bank accounts held by Cale88 Foods Corp. were reported closed in July 2026, the same month the impeachment trial began.
• Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Chief of Staff Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez testified that Duterte and Carpio had combined after-tax income of P85.34 million from 2007 to 2025. The prosecution compared this with Duterte’s declared net worth of P98.66 million in her 2025 SALN.

READ: Highlights: Day 35 of Sara Duterte impeachment | Oct. 7, 2026

Day 36 (Oct. 8, 2026)

• Proceedings were suspended at the start of the day after the prosecution sought to present Cabrera ahead of Garcia-Marquez because the assigned counsel to present BIR witness, lawyer Erwin Matib, was reportedly unwell. The court retained Garcia-Marquez as the next witness after the defense objected to the change.
• The Bank of the Philippine Islands confirmed that former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte jointly held a peso time deposit opened in 2010 with P40.65 million. The funds were later used to purchase manager’s checks in March 2011 after 12 renewals.
• Garcia-Marquez testified about the couple’s income and tax records. The defense displayed Letters of Authority containing the names of revenue officers, prompting concerns over data privacy.
• The Senate livestream of the session was briefly taken down after the disclosure. Escudero ordered the clerk of court to re-upload the recording with the officers’ names redacted.
• Sen. Mark Villar joined the Senate majority, bringing its membership to 14. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri denied the move was connected to impeachment vote counts.
• A Supreme Court petition challenging the impeachment court’s ruling on the vote threshold, filed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Sen. Christopher Go and PDP-Laban officers, became public.

READ: Highlights: Day 36 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 8, 2026

Day 37 (Oct. 9, 2026)

• Cabrera testified that Duterte had P817.87 million in alleged undeclared assets and unexplained wealth from 2022 to 2025, according to Table 39 of his forensic report.
• He also said more than P207 million in cash held in bank accounts belonging to Duterte and Carpio had allegedly not been declared during her vice presidency. The prosecution identified Cabrera as its final witness for Article II, which concerns alleged unexplained wealth.
• Prosecutors said the alleged wealth discrepancies were based on financial and other records. The defense has yet to cross-examine Cabrera.
• The Senate livestream controversy continued to draw attention after Garcia-Marquez raised concerns about the disclosure of revenue officers’ names in the displayed tax documents.

READ: Highlights: Day 37 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 9, 2026

Outside the court, House prosecution spokesperson Ace Barbers said he personally considered the unexplained wealth allegation the strongest of the three impeachment articles pursued by the panel, citing the financial records and other evidence presented.

Padilla said he and allied senators might eventually skip the impeachment trial if what he described as constitutional distortions continued.

Carpio described himself as “collateral damage” in the proceedings after Cabrera’s report flagged purchases by the couple, including credit card transactions at discount stores in Japan and Malaysia. Carpio said the purchases were paid for with his personal funds and did not involve public money. /dp

Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor.