October 13, 2026 | 10:21am
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s unexplained wealth could reach P1.5 billion from 2022 to 2025, forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera told the impeachment court on Monday, October 12, citing potential discrepancies in financial records and income from business interests.
The estimate is nearly double the P817.87 million in unexplained wealth Cabrera had previously calculated, based on his review of Duterte’s financial records.
Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero asked Cabrera how much Duterte’s undeclared wealth could reach if he had not used conservative assumptions in his analysis.
“Kung hindi po kayo conservative, kung ito po 'yung bare minimum, in your expertise and based on your review of the documents, ano po ba 'yung sukdulang hangganan? Kung ito po 'yung bare minimum niyo, ano po 'yung inyong maximum?” Escudero asked.
(If you were not being conservative and this is the bare minimum, based on your expertise and review of the documents, what would be the upper limit? If this is your bare minimum, what would be your maximum?)
(Based lang po sa mga documents po na nakita namin, hindi ko po sinama ang confidential funds po. So 475 (million) po ’yun,” Cabrera said.
(Based only on the documents we reviewed, I did not include the confidential funds. So that would be P475 million.)
He added that discrepancies involving the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) could amount to P100 million if he did not use conservative assumptions. Applying a 45% assumption used for GenCorp Industries Inc. to undeclared sales could also increase the estimated amount by around P250 million.
Cabrera said these adjustments could nearly double his initial estimate.
“Mga 1.5 po,” he told Escudero when asked to compute the maximum estimate.
“1.5 billion?” Escudero asked.
“1.5 billion po,” Cabrera replied, clarifying that the amount was less than P1.6 billion.
Escudero then confirmed whether the P1.5-billion figure represented the maximum estimate of Duterte’s undeclared wealth from 2022 to 2025, without double-counting amounts across different years.
“Tama po,” Cabrera said. (That’s correct.)
Business interests account for part of estimate
During the hearing, Escudero also examined how much of Cabrera’s initial P817.87-million estimate would remain if income attributed to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, from their business interests were excluded.
These included GenCorp Industries Inc., Metro Chow King Foods and Cale 88 Food Corp.
Escudero cited Cabrera’s computation that GenCorp accounted for approximately 25.9% of the total, equivalent to P212.63 million.
He also cited the combined P142.2 million attributed to Metro Chow King Foods and Cale 88 Food Corp., equivalent to 17.3% of the estimated unexplained wealth.
Escudero said that excluding the amounts attributed to GenCorp Industries Inc., Metro City Chow Foods Corp. and Cale 88 Foods Corp. would leave P463.05 million in unexplained wealth, based on Cabrera’s review of bank accounts and insurance policies.
The amount represents 56.6% of his initial P817.87-million estimate, which Cabrera affirmed.
Tax liabilities may reduce total
Escudero also asked whether taxes that should have been paid on the wealth would have to be deducted from the estimate.
Cabrera said this was possible, explaining that any outstanding tax liability could be subtracted when calculating the amount.
“Whether it's the low of 817 (million) or the high of 1.5 (billion), any liability would have to be subtracted or deducted from that?” Escudero asked
“Tama po,” Cabrera replied. (That’s correct.)
Cabrera explained that the classification of wealth as unexplained depended not only on whether its source was known but also on whether the source was legal.
“Pero ’pag ang pinanggalingan po ay hindi po legal, nagiging unexplained din po siya kahit alam niyo po kung saan nanggaling,” he said
(But if the source is illegal, it also becomes unexplained wealth, even if you know where it came from.)
Cabrera was presented by the prosecution as an expert witness on Article II of the impeachment complaint against Duterte, which accuses the vice president of amassing unexplained wealth disproportionate to her lawful income, failing to fully disclose her assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and maintaining prohibited business interests while in office.