Sara Duterte’s net worth rose 1,260% in office, SALNs show

MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared net worth rose by nearly 1,260 percent over 18 years in elective office, climbing from PHP 7,250,497 in 2007 to PHP 98,656,131.20 in 2025, according to her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) presented before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The SALNs were authenticated by Atty. Karen Batu, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Ombudsman’s Central Records Division, who took the witness stand on Day 25 of the Vice President’s impeachment trial.

Batu was presented by the House prosecution panel as its second witness under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which covers allegations of unexplained wealth, false SALNs, and continued business interests.

“Madam Witness, we started at P7 million based on your testimony. P7,250,497. And in all the years of the Vice President, umakyat na ngayon sa P98 million ang kanyang net worth habang siya ay nag-gogobyerno,” prosecution counsel Atty. James Bryan Ibrahim Alih declared. (Her net worth has now climbed to PHP 98 million while she has been in government.)

Batu testified that Duterte declared the 2007 net worth in the year she was elected Davao City vice mayor.

Records presented during the hearing showed that Duterte’s net worth reached PHP 71,658,841 in 2022, the year she was elected Vice President.

It rose further to PHP 77,508,841 in 2023, PHP 88,512,370 in 2024, and PHP 98,656,131 in 2025.

Batu also testified that even while sitting as Vice President and constitutionally barred from engaging in any business, Duterte’s net worth climbed by 37.67 percent, from PHP 71,658,841 in her first year in office in 2022 to PHP 98,656,131.20 in 2025.

Section 13, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution prohibits the President, Vice President, and members of the Cabinet from directly or indirectly practicing any other profession, participating in any business, or being financially interested in any contract, franchise, or special privilege granted by the government or any of its agencies and government-owned or controlled corporations during their tenure.

Batu testified that Duterte declared in her SALNs that she continued to hold active corporate and business interests after her election as Vice President.

In her 2022 SALN, Duterte declared that she was a shareholder in Davao New Royal Taipan Corporation, Metro City Chow Foods Corporation, Times Square Bee Foods Corporation, and Tapang at Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines Incorporated.

In the same filing, she declared that her husband, Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, held interests in Carpio Duterte Lawyers, KL88 Foods Corporation, 888 Bistro, and Madayaw Fisheries Incorporated.

By 2023, new entities appeared in Duterte’s SALN: Mati City Ice Plant and Cold Storage Incorporated, Amianan Shores Incorporated, and Geometry Security and Investigation Agency Incorporated.

The 2024 and 2025 filings expanded further to include GenCorp Industries, Inc., Carpio Lawyers (formerly Carpio Duterte Lawyers), and Cable Tow 88 Shipping and Marine Services Incorporated.

However, Duterte did not declare the acquisition cost or stock equity for these business interests in her SALNs, according to Batu.

During questioning by the private prosecutor, Batu also confirmed that Duterte did not declare a single peso in cash from 2019 to 2025, even as her net worth continued to rise.

Duterte previously declared PHP 2 million in cash in 2007 and 2008, PHP 2.8 million in 2009, PHP 3.66 million in 2010, PHP 3.93 million in 2011, and PHP 4.32 million in 2012.

She reported PHP 3.75 million in cash in 2016, PHP 6.37 million in 2017, and PHP 3.80 million in 2018.

Her declared cash dropped to zero in 2019 and remained at zero through 2025, according to the SALNs presented during the hearing.

On cross-examination, the defense had Batu confirm that SALN forms have no separate line for cash and no column for the acquisition cost of business interests, and Batu said her office does not verify the accuracy of what officials declare.

Lapid: SALN carries heavy accountability

Senator-Judge Lito Lapid warned that officials who fail to declare their assets truthfully in their SALNs face serious accountability, as the impeachment court scrutinized the rise in Duterte’s declared wealth from PHP 7.25 million to PHP 98.66 million.

Although Lapid drew laughter from the court in one of his rare interventions in the trial, his point was serious: the SALN is a weighty document, and any official who fails to declare correctly is answerable for it.

“Para malaman po ng ating mga kababayan, ang SALN po ay masyadong mabigat sa amin, lalo na kung hindi kami nagdeklara ng tama,” Lapid said. (So that our countrymen may know, the SALN is a very heavy matter for us, especially if we do not declare correctly.)

“Panonoorin n’yo na naman ako eh,” he added. (You are going to watch me again.)

It was only the second time the usually quiet senator had spoken and asked questions during the impeachment trial.

He first intervened in August to question former Office of the Vice President disbursing officer Gina Acosta about alleged recipients of confidential funds who shared his surname.

Lapid said ordinary Filipinos may not fully understand what a SALN is or why it matters.

“Ang nakakaintindi lang sa SALN, kaming mga pulitiko, ‘yung nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno. Kami lang po ang nakakaintindi sa SALN,” he said. (The only ones who understand the SALN are we politicians, those working in government. We are the only ones who understand the SALN.)

He asked Batu whether there is a penalty for failing to file a SALN.

Batu answered that it may constitute a violation of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Lapid also cited a lawyer’s remark in an interview that it was supposedly “kalokohan” (foolishness) for officials to tell the whole truth in their SALNs.

“Ako po, nagsusumite po ako ng totoong SALN, Your Honor,” Batu replied. (As for me, I submit a truthful SALN, Your Honor.)

“‘Di joke ‘yan, ah?” Lapid shot back in jest. (That is not a joke, is it?)

Noticing his fellow senator-judges looking at him, the senator quipped: “Ayan na naman. Panonoorin n’yo na naman ako, eh.” (There it goes again. You are going to watch me again.)

Presiding Officer Francis Escudero said Lapid could speak and ask questions for “how many minutes that he would like.”

Wealth grew more than 13 times since 2007

Based on the SALNs authenticated by Batu, Duterte’s 2025 net worth of PHP 98.66 million was about 13.6 times her declared net worth in 2007, when she held office in the Davao City local government.

The SALNs also show several large jumps in her declared wealth.

From 2007 to 2008 alone, her net worth rose from PHP 7.25 million to PHP 18.49 million, an increase of about PHP 11.24 million, or nearly 155 percent, in a single year.

Her net worth later fell to about PHP 14.27 million in 2011 before climbing again to nearly PHP 22.12 million in 2012, a rise of almost 55 percent in one year.

The SALNs likewise show uninterrupted growth in Duterte’s declared wealth from 2016 onward.

From about PHP 34.90 million in 2016, her net worth rose every year until it reached PHP 98.66 million in 2025.

That amounts to an increase of about PHP 63.76 million, or 182.7 percent, over nine years.

Year on year, her net worth grew by about PHP 9.93 million in 2017, PHP 4.88 million in 2018, PHP 5.91 million in 2019, PHP 970,000 in 2020, PHP 8.73 million in 2021, PHP 6.35 million in 2022, PHP 5.85 million in 2023, PHP 11 million in 2024, and PHP 10.14 million in 2025.

This means Duterte’s declared net worth rose for nine consecutive years from 2016 to 2025.

The increase continued after her election as Vice President, with her net worth rising from about PHP 71.66 million in 2022 to PHP 77.51 million in 2023, PHP 88.51 million in 2024, and PHP 98.66 million in 2025.

From 2022 to 2025, her declared net worth grew by about PHP 27 million, or nearly 38 percent.