MANILA – Claims made by former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV about large, undeclared financial transactions linked to Vice President Sara Duterte have been partly validated after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) confirmed matching records.
House justice committee chair Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro said 19 of the 71 transactions cited by Trillanes were verified by the AMLC as identical in both amount and timing.
She described the development as significant, saying it not only supports Trillanes’ statements but also strengthens the impeachment complaints filed against the vice president.
Luistro explained that the evidence presented during the latest hearing helped persuade many committee members that the allegations have a factual basis.
She recalled that Trillanes had previously raised concerns about joint bank accounts allegedly shared by Sara Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte. These accounts reportedly involved millions of pesos that were not disclosed in their SALNs.
While these allegations were initially brought up during earlier congressional hearings, Luistro said the AMLC’s confirmation during the April 22 session gave them more credibility.
The transactions reviewed were randomly selected by Rep. Leila de Lima and were found to align closely with the AMLC’s own documentation.
Luistro emphasized that this verification is among the most important findings so far, but also noted that many transactions remain unexamined, leaving more questions unanswered.
She further pointed out that some of the confirmed transactions were allegedly connected to funds from Samuel “Sammy” Uy, who has been described as a drug figure, and that these were deposited into accounts tied to the vice president.
Trillanes, citing documents in his possession, claimed that a total of PHP2.3 billion flowed through joint accounts of Sara and Rodrigo Duterte. He also alleged that the Duterte family received PHP181 million from Uy.
From that amount, Sara Duterte supposedly received PHP22.32 million between 2011 and 2013 while serving as Davao City mayor.
The AMLC reportedly verified specific entries, including PHP16.85 million on Dec. 9, 2014; PHP41.72 million on March 28, 2014; and PHP10.37 million on Feb. 4, 2010.
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