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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Simpleng tao daw?': Solons chide VP Sara over her 'billionaire status'

'Simpleng tao daw?': Solons chide VP Sara over her 'billionaire status'

Published Apr 24, 2026 02:04 pm

At A Glance

  • Simply put, Vice President Sara Duterte is a billionaire. Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V gave this assessment two days removed from the Committee on Justice's latest impeachment hearing wherein the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) presented details of the respondent's supposed juicy financial records.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
(MANILA BULLETIN)



Simply put, Vice President Sara Duterte is a billionaire.
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V gave this assessment two days removed from the Committee on Justice's latest impeachment hearing wherein the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) presented details of the respondent's supposed juicy financial records.
"The AMLC records have shown that VP Sara Duterte is a billionaire. Lumabas na ang totoo: bilyonaryo ang ating Vice President (The truth has come out: our Vice President is a billionaire)," Chua said in a statement Friday, April 24.
“It is an undisputed fact—not based on mere testimony, but on official documents and government records that, until now, have remained beyond public scrutiny,” Chua, a lawyer, said.
For Ortega, the AMLC records showing billions of pesos in transactions linked to Vice President Duterte cut through any claims of modest living. But more importantly, these allegedly contradict her declared wealth in her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs).
Ortega, a co-endorser of one of the two active impeachment complaints against the respondent, said the mismatch raises red flags that could point to unexplained wealth.
“Huwag paloko ang publiko—magkaiba ang milyon sa bilyon. Hind ito simpleng inconsistency. Kung ang isang opisyal ay nagdedeklara ng milyon, pero ang galaw ng pera ay umaabot sa bilyon, posibleng indikasyon ng unexplained wealth lalo’t hindi sila nagpapaliwanag,” he said in a separate statement.
(The public must not be deceived—millions and billions are not the same. This is not a simple inconsistency. If an official declares millions, but the money flow reaches billions, it is a possible indication of unexplained wealth, especially when they refuse to explain.)
“Kung pagbabasehan ang AMLC records, malinaw na bilyonarya pala si VP Sara. Hindi ito tugma sa SALN na milyon lang ang dineklara. May malaking agwat na kailangang ipaliwanag,” he noted.
(Based on AMLC records, it is clear that VP Sara is in fact a billionaire. This does not match the SALN, where only millions were declared. There is a significant gap that must be explained.)
Vice President Duterte's impeachment is being sought--among other reasons--for her alleged unexplained wealth and discrepancies in her SALN.
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua (left), La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V (PPAB)
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua (left), La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V (PPAB)
It was during the April 22 hearing of the justice committee that the AMLC presented the alleged flagged transactions of Vice President Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio amounting to nearly P6.8 billion.
'Pagpapanggap'
On the sidelines of the hearing presided by chairperson Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro, former senator Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV said it was high time that Filipinos learn the truth about the Duterte family's true financial standing.
"Sana ay tuloy tuloy na ito para matanggal na, mabasag na yung pagpapanggap ng Duterte family na sila ay mga simpleng mga tao (Hopefully this continues so the Duterte family’s pretense of being simple folk can finally be stripped away and shattered)," said the outspoken Trillanes in a chance interview.
"Pero dito nakita natin na bukod sa kurakot sila, yung pera nila galing sa iligal na droga (But here we see that beyond corruption, their money comes from illegal drugs)," he underscored.
The AMLC on Wednesday confirmed that 18 transactions randomly selected from the annexes of Trillanes' sworn statement had matching or similar entries in AMLC records, including three transactions listed under alleged payouts by alleged drug lord Sammy Uy.
“So for the record, 18 out of 18 transactions randomly selected from the annexes of Sinumpaang Salaysay of Honorable Trillanes were confirmed by the AMLC, at least to the extent that similar transactions appear in their report. That is for the record,” Luistro declared.

Related Tags

Sara Duterte Impeachment AMLC SALN Paolo Ortega joel chua Billionaire
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