The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) told congressmen on Wednesday, April 22 that it had flagged nearly P6.8 billion worth of transactions from bank accounts linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio from 2006 to 2025.

Attending Wednesday's House Committee on Justice hearings on the determination of probable cause in the impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President was resource person AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura.

“Yes, there are suspicious transactions and covered transactions in our system, database, or record,” Buenaventura told the justice panel chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro.

Earler in the proceedings, the AMLC presented a report to satisfy the subpoena that was issued by the committee during its previous hearing.

Citing the council's summary report, Buenaventura said they identified 313 covered transaction reports (CTRs) and 17 suspicious transactions reports (STRs) from the Vice President's accounts, and 317 (CTRs) and 16 STRs from those of her husband.

Specifically, there were P3.77 billion worth of flagged transactions from Duterte’s accounts and P2.99 billion from Carpio’s. This totalled to P6.77 billion.

Buenaventura said the records showed an inflow of P1.83 billion into Duterte’s accounts and P2.59 billion into Carpio’s, or P4.43 billion in total deposits.

On the outflow side, he said P1.21 billion was withdrawn from Duterte’s accounts and P343.32 million from Carpio’s accounts.

The AMLC also identified P791.1 million in transactions that could not be clearly determined based on available records.

"Madam chair, wala po yan sa SALN ah (those aren't reflected in the SALN)," committee member Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua interjected, in an attempt to point out the glaring discrepancy in the impeachment respondent's filings.

Vice President Duterte's impeachment is being sought--among other reasons--for her alleged unexplained wealth and discrepancies in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

Buenaventura says covered transactions refer to bank deposits of over P500,000 in a single day, which are automatically reported to the AMLC. On the other hand, suspicious transactions are those flagged by banks due to red flags or doubts over their legitimacy, including possible links to unlawful sources, regardless of the amount.

He also cited Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which defines suspicious transactions as those with no underlying legal or trade obligation, involving improperly identified clients, or amounts inconsistent with a client’s business or financial capacity.

Buenaventura added that suspicious transactions also cover transactions that appear structured, linked to unlawful activity or money laundering, show deviations from a client’s normal behavior or profile, or fall under any analogous circumstances indicating possible irregularity.

Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, also a member of the committee, reviewed the yearly transaction figures alongside Duterte’s declared net worth in her SALNs. He noted the significant gap between the reported financial activity and her declared personal assets.

Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez echoed the observations of Chua and Ridon.

“At ang nakakapagtaka po madam chair, para yatang hindi nagtutugma yung kwento sa kwenta. Dahil sa SALN kanina na binabanggit po ng ating kasamahan na si Cong. Terry Ridon may mga sinabi na may cash on hand kaso lang base sa labas at pasok ng pera mas malaki po yung nai-report ng mga bangko sa AMLC kesa dun sa lumalabas sa SALN,” Suarez said.

(And what is puzzling, madam chair, is that the story doesn’t seem to match the numbers. Because in the SALN earlier mentioned by our colleague Cong. Terry Ridon, there were statements indicating cash on hand, but based on the inflow and outflow of funds, the banks reported to the AMLC amounts larger than what appeared in the SALN.)

According to the deputy speaker, the public must understand that the transactions ]presented before the panel were being reported by the banks themselves and were not the product of AMLC choosing to look into specific accounts.

“Sa madaling salita para mas maunawaan po ng tao, hindi po iniimbestigahan ng AMLC yung mga specific na bank accounts. Yung mismong report ang pinanggagalingan po nito ay yung bangko mismo sila yung nagrereport sa AMLC,” Suarez said.

(In simple terms, so people can better understand, the AMLC does not investigate specific bank accounts. The source of the report is the banks themselves, as they are the ones reporting to the AMLC.)

The Ombudsman earlier confirmed to the committee that Duterte declared no cash on hand or bank deposits for six consecutive years from 2019 to 2024, even as her net worth jumped over tenfold to P88.4 million in 2024 from a mere P7 million in 2007.

In earlier years, during her tenure as Davao City vice mayor and mayor, Duterte declared cash on hand and bank deposits ranging from roughly P2 million to P4.32 million.

The AMLC also noted a marked increase in the historical trend of Duterte’s bank transactions, which surged to P208.15 million in 2007. The volume further intensified between 2009 and 2013, with annual totals averaging over P400 million.

Specific figures included P704.93 million in 2009 and P597.15 million in 2011, while 2010 recorded P648.58 million. Overall, the AMLC recorded a total of P3.92 billion across 417 transactions from 2005 to 2026, noting that financial activity tapered in the most recent years.