Sara Duterte property disclosures questioned as prosecutors drop Trillanes

Sen. Francis Escudero questioned Thursday, Oct. 1, whether a Davao City property bought for PHP 6 million was reflected in Vice President Sara Duterte’s asset declarations.

The impeachment court’s presiding officer later qualified his observation after the defense argued that the property could correspond to an existing entry.

Escudero limited the court’s statement to saying the property was not declared “as such” and said its geographical identification could be addressed during cross-examination.

House prosecutors also dropped former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV from their witness list, while the court moved the next hearing to Oct. 5.

The exchange came on the 32nd day of Duterte’s impeachment trial as House prosecutors presented land records under Article II, concerning alleged unexplained wealth and asset disclosures.

The hearing proceeded on a day without a Senate plenary session.

Davao City Register of Deeds Kathy Florence M. Baldonado testified about a 379-square-meter residential lot in Matina, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 146-2024-010775.

She said the records named lawyer Manases R. Carpio, identified as married to Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, as the registered owner.

The deed of sale presented to the court placed the purchase on July 2, 2024, for PHP 6 million.

“Based on our records, sir, the consideration here is PHP 6 million,” Baldonado testified.

The documents placed the property in Matina, with another identifying Juna Subdivision in Matina Crossing, Talomo, Davao City.

The title carried an annotation for a PHP 8 million real estate mortgage in favor of Philippine Savings Bank, dated Aug. 27, 2024.

Baldonado said the title remained active and uncanceled.

“The Presiding Officer has looked into the SALN of the Vice President in 2025 and does not find this particular property as one of the real properties declared because we checked it against all of the declarations of the Vice President,” Escudero said.

“In fact, it’s not found in previous SALNs too prior to 2025.”

Defense lawyer Lindon Miguel Bacquel argued that the property could match an entry because Matina Crossing is also known as Barangay 74-A.

Escudero subsequently qualified his observation and left the location issue for cross-examination.

He also noted differences between the purchase price and other entries in Duterte’s 2025 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

“There is a sale made mention here […] of a parcel of land in 76-A Davao City but the amount of acquisition is P10 million, and a sale of a property in Dumoy, Davao City, but the acquisition cost is P2 million. So walang one-to-one unless later on again it is explained and shown to us which one it is,” Escudero said.

Asked by House prosecutor Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores to compare the records with the SALN, Baldonado said she found no corresponding declaration.

“Base po dito sa record na hawak ko sir, Your Honor, wala po sa 2024 at 2025 na nagtutugma,” Baldonado told the court.

“Wala pong nag-match.”

She noted entries for construction and acquisitions of PHP 10 million and PHP 2 million, adding, “ang purchase price po dito ay wala pong P6 million po.”

“Maari pong sabihin na ilang milyong piso lang ito. Pero sa ordinaryong Pilipino po, malaking halaga na ito, ang P6 million,” Flores said.

The defense objected on relevance, foundation, the original document rule, and opinion evidence, arguing that the Articles of Impeachment did not identify a particular property.

The court overruled the relevance objection, saying prosecutors did not have to attach every piece of supporting evidence to Article II.

The defense maintained its continuing objection.

Samal property examined

Prosecutors next presented Marco K. Pineda, deputy register of deeds and acting register of deeds of the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte.

Through stipulations between the parties, the court accepted the authenticity of TCT No. 142-2019-013134, covering a 751-square-meter property in Matanos, Samal.

The deed of absolute sale identified the location as Kembali Resort and recorded Carpio’s purchase on March 15, 2018, for PHP 3,453,849.

Pineda said the title, identifying Carpio as married to Duterte, remained active and uncanceled.

“It means that it is still the same title,” he said.

He explained that the title reflects the details appearing on its face under the registration system.

Flores asked whether the transaction appeared in Duterte’s 2019 SALN, which listed agricultural parcels in Samal acquired in 2016 and 2019 for PHP 1 million and PHP 500,000.

“Nothing in this SALN perfectly matches the DOAS sale, sir,” Pineda said.

“Nothing matches the land described in the deed of absolute sale dated 2018, sir.”

Pineda repeatedly qualified his answers, saying his office performed a ministerial function and that he could only read the documents presented.

He said he could not conclude that the SALN entries referred to the property covered by the 2018 deed.

The defense objected on relevance, lack of foundation, incompetence, and the opinion rule.

Prosecutors said they were asking only whether the location, purchase price, and acquisition year in the land records appeared in the SALN.

“Maari pong sabihin na, again, ilang milyong piso lang ito, but para sa iba, malaking halaga na po itong P3.4 million,” Flores said.

After prosecutors concluded Pineda’s direct examination, the defense requested more time to prepare to cross-examine both registry witnesses.

The court temporarily excused them and proceeded to the next phase of the hearing.

Asset declarations under scrutiny

Duterte’s SALNs show her declared net worth rising from about PHP 7.25 million in 2007 to PHP 98.66 million in 2025.

That represents an increase of about PHP 91.4 million, or roughly 1,260%, from the year she became Davao City vice mayor.

Her declared net worth reached PHP 34.90 million in 2016 and PHP 71.66 million in 2022, when she became vice president.

It increased to PHP 77.51 million in 2023, PHP 88.51 million in 2024, and PHP 98.66 million in 2025.

The increase from 2022 to 2025 was about PHP 27 million, or nearly 38%.

Section 8 of Republic Act 6713 requires covered public officials to disclose assets, liabilities, net worth, and business interests in sworn statements.

Article II alleges that Duterte accumulated unexplained wealth, failed to fully disclose her and her spouse’s assets and liabilities, and continued business interests during her vice presidency.

The land testimony followed evidence from an Office of the Ombudsman records official concerning allegedly undeclared stock holdings in several SALNs.

The property disclosures remain disputed, with cross-examination still pending.

Trillanes withdrawn as witness

Trillanes later said he had requested his removal and would present his intended testimony and evidence at an Oct. 2 news conference.

Lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas’ 2nd District announced the decision to drop Trillanes during Thursday’s hearing.

“The prosecution has finally decided not to present former Senator Sonny Trillanes,” Luistro told the court.

“We seek the kind indulgence of the Honorable Impeachment Court for the belated final position on this particular concern,” she added.

The decision followed the court’s Sept. 29 refusal to issue a subpoena before the bank records underlying Trillanes’ proposed testimony had been presented.

Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero said prosecutors could call Trillanes voluntarily but advised them to present the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and bank records first.

Trillanes had been listed as a prosecution witness under Article II, which concerns allegations involving Duterte’s wealth, financial transactions, and asset disclosures.

Luistro did not give a specific reason for dropping him during the hearing.

Asked by reporters in the Senate hallway, she replied, “Prosecution’s prerogative,” and gave a thumbs-up when asked a follow-up question.

Later Thursday, Trillanes said he had asked Luistro to withdraw his name.

“I requested [Luistro] to formally withdraw my name as witness for the prosecution. This way, the prosecution panel would be relieved from the pressure it is going through,” Trillanes said in a Facebook post.

“I will be conducting a press conference tomorrow (October 2) to present everything I was supposed to put out in the impeachment trial,” he added.

AMLC testimony moved to Oct. 5

Before adjourning Thursday, the court moved the resumption of trial to Monday, Oct. 5, giving the defense time to prepare for the AMLC presentation.

The ruling superseded the prosecution’s earlier plan to present AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura on Friday, Oct. 2.

Luistro had said Buenaventura was the only witness scheduled for Friday and that prosecutors would seek a deferment if his testimony ended early.

Prosecutors had also proposed presenting Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials on Oct. 5 and representatives of banks and insurance companies on Oct. 6.

The court granted the request for subpoenas for the Oct. 5 and 6 hearings before the later adjournment ruling.

The seven banks named were Land Bank of the Philippines, Asia United Bank, Philippine Savings Bank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philippine National Bank, and BDO Unibank.

Other companies named in the prosecution’s list were Prudential Life, Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Manulife), FWD Life Insurance Corp., AIA Philippines, BDO Securities, and BDO Life.

The defense asked for advance copies of summaries and other documents to be identified by the BIR and financial company witnesses.

The court granted the request, directing prosecutors to provide the documents under an arrangement similar to that for the AMLC presentation.

Six AMLC summaries

Earlier Thursday, prosecutors sought to place on record six AMLC summaries of covered and suspicious transaction reports involving Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, and 15 juridical persons.

The summaries included transactions involving Duterte and Carpio from 2022 to 2025 and transactions involving the 15 juridical persons during the same period.

They also covered inward remittances to Kali 88 Foods Corp. from China and other countries, along with insurance and investment-related transactions.

Defense lawyer Sheila Sison said her team had not received the documents.

“Unfortunately, Your Honor, we have not received any of the documents mentioned by the lead prosecutor,” Sison said.

She said she had checked her email and found no message from the AMLC or prosecutors, and that the defense had received no hard copies.

Sison said the defense was hearing about the summaries for the first time.

The court directed that the document issue be addressed before the AMLC presentation.

Buenaventura’s testimony is now scheduled for Oct. 5.