The search for answers regarding the alleged P50-million gap between Vice President Sara Duterte's cumulative government salary and her declared net worth may push the House Committee on Justice to seek the income tax returns and business records of the lady official and her husband.

Thus, said Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on March 14 during the Saturday Media Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.

Ridon, a lawyer and member of the justice committee, raised this possibility while discussing financial records that may be sought by the panel as it continues processing the two remaining impeachment complaints against Duterte.

“We will not just be doing a subpoena on the SALNs (statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth) and bank transactions of Vice President Duterte and Atty. Mans Carpio, we will also undertake subpoenas on the income tax returns of the couple, income tax returns, bank returns, and SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registration of all the businesses that have been listed in the SALN of the Vice President for 2023 and 2024,” Ridon said.

Ridon, a lawyer, said the documents were necessary to verify the sources of wealth declared in Duterte’s SALN, as he noted that her declared net worth had increased significantly over the years.

He said the Vice President’s SALN showed a net worth of around P7,250,497 in 2007, which ballooned to P88 million in 2024.

Ridon noted that Duterte’s cumulative salary from government service between 2007 and 2024 would only amount to roughly P30 million to P40 million.

“So, what needs to be explained by the Vice President is the gap between P30 million to P40 million and the P88 million net worth that has been submitted in 2024,” Ridon said.

Ridon said the alleged difference—about P50 million—would have to be explained through other lawful income such as earnings from law practice or business interests disclosed in the Vice President’s SALN.

“So, saan po ‘yun mapapaliwanag? Maipapaliwanag po ito doon sa sinasabi po nilang other lawful income, which was taken from what? From law practice and from ‘yung pong mga business interests that had been listed in that SALN,” he said.

(So, where can that be explained? It can be explained under what they call other lawful income, which was taken from what? From law practice and from the business interests that had been listed in that SALN.)

“Ibig sabihin, ‘yung P50 million po (This means the P50 million) should be produced by these business interests, by these professional interests," underscored Ridon.

The party-list lawmaker said verifying those claims would require examining the financial performance of the businesses listed in Duterte’s financial disclosures.

He said that based on their computations, the businesses and professional activities cited as sources of other lawful income should have generated around P200 million to P400 million in revenue over 17 years to account for the roughly P50 million alleged gap between the Vice President’s P30 million to P40 million cumulative salary and her P88 million declared net worth in 2024.

Asked whether the discrepancy could simply be corrected through an amended SALN, Ridon said the issue goes beyond a clerical correction.

“Ibang bagay ‘yung correction, ano? Kasi ‘yung mere correction, for example, you did not disclose it into your SALN. Syempre ibang bagay ‘yan, kasi SALN should actually reflect ‘yun pong actual picture ng iyong wealth,” he said.

(It’s a different matter when it comes to correction, right? Because mere correction—for example, you did not disclose it in your SALN. Of course, that’s another matter, since the SALN should actually reflect the true picture of your wealth.)

“Pero mas mabigat po kasi ‘yung difficulty to explain the gap between the cumulative salary and yung actual stated net worth (But what carries more weight is the difficulty of explaining the gap between the cumulative salary and the actual stated net worth)," he pointed out.

Ridon said such a discrepancy could raise questions of unexplained wealth if not properly accounted for.

“Kasi ano po ‘yan eh, meron pong presumption, may prima facie showing po ng unexplained wealth eh. Di ba? Pagka that gap is actually not explained (Because that carries a presumption, a prima facie showing of unexplained wealth, right? When that gap is actually not explained)."

He added that the impeachment proceedings will provide Duterte the opportunity to explain the difference.

“So the proceedings in the impeachment will in fact provide the opportunity to the Vice President to actually explain that particular P50 million gap,” Ridon said.