CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The evidence on the alleged unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte is strong, said former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio.
The retired high court magistrate made this statement during his visit to the city last Tuesday.
Bank records and other documentary evidence showing properties and money belonging to the Vice President and her husband, Manasas Carpio, that were not reflected in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) are very credible, Carpio said.
He cited CALE 88, a business owned by the Vice President’s husband, as a smoking gun of unexplained wealth.
“They cannot invoke the doctrine of corporate veil as the property of the husband is the property of the wife,” said Carpio.
The company said to be in manufacturing and export of banana chips earned hundreds of millions but not reflected in the SALN of the vice president.
The impeachment trial also presented evidence that the company received ₱319 million from China.
The failure to declare assets, bank deposits, and funds held in businesses owned by the Vice President and her husband in their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) constitutes a violation of the law and is an impeachable offense, said the retired Supreme Court justice from Davao City.
“Failure to declare their assets in the SALN is in itself a violation of the law,” Carpio stated.
If the impeachment trial proves that the wealth in question was acquired through illegal means that would constitute another violation of the law.
The Vice President cannot invoke the Bank Secrecy Law to shield herself, as the law clearly states that public officials are accountable at all times.
“At all times ” means that even if you place your wealth in the bank, you are still accountable. Public officials, he explained, must show that their wealth matches their salary and other legitimate sources of income. They must declare it in the SALN, he explained.
The Vice President faces allegations that she failed to declare about ₱800 million in assets in her SALN.
Carpio recalled that the Senate Impeachment Court found former Chief Justice Renato Corona guilty in 2012 after it was proven he failed to declare US$2 million in his bank accounts.
That amount was worth about ₱80 million when Corona faced his impeachment trial.
Meanwhile, the retired Supreme Court justice was amused by the frustration of the Vice President’s lawyers over the House prosecution’s decision to drop three of the four Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President.
The prosecution decided to retain only the case concerning Duterte’s alleged failure to declare her true assets, liabilities, and net worth as well as her alleged unexplained wealth.
“Naturally, kung may mga kaso ang tao, matutuwa kung i-withdraw ng prosecution ang ilan sa mga kaso,” Carpio said.
