April 23, 2026
MANILA – The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reported that billions of pesos worth of transactions linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband were flagged by banks.
These transactions cover more than 600 dealings disclosed to the financial crimes task force.
Banks flagged 33 suspicious transactions and 630 covered dealings worth P6.7 billion involving Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura told lawmakers.
About P4.4 billion flowed into the accounts, P1.5 billion were transferred out, and around P791 million could not be classified as an inflow or outflow, according to an AMLC report presented to the House committee on justice.
READ: AMLC confirms suspicious transactions made by Sara Duterte
The revelation by the financial crimes task force comes as lawmakers weigh the allegations that Duterte reportedly amassed wealth beyond her declared income.
The vice president has not disclosed any cash holdings or bank deposits since 2018, according to her net worth statements.
“We do not look at personalities,” Buenaventura said in Filipino. “What we examine are the data and the numbers.”
“What we focus on, more than the people behind them, is the movement, flow and the frequency of flows, and whether there is anything unusual in that flow,” he explained.
READ: Sara Duterte declared no cash, bank deposits since 2019 in SALNs
Duterte’s bank accounts registered 371 large transactions and 30 suspicious transactions from 2005 to January 2026, with flagged cash flows “reaching as high as P55.15 million,” a summary of AMLC’s report showed.
The flagged transactions totaled P6.7 billion, broken down into P3.7 billion linked to Duterte’s accounts and P2.9 billion to Carpio’s.
Buenaventura said the records showed an inflow of P1.8 billion into Duterte’s accounts and P2.5 billion into Carpio’s, or P4.4 billion in total deposits.
On the outflow side, he said P1.2 billion was withdrawn from Duterte’s accounts and P343.3 million from Carpio’s accounts.
The AMLC also identified P791.1 million in transactions that could not be clearly determined based on available records.
The AMLC also noted a marked increase in the historical trend of Duterte’s bank transactions, which surged to P208.1 million in 2007.
The volume further intensified between 2009 and 2013, with annual totals averaging over P400 million.
Specific figures included P704.9 million in 2009 and P597.1 million in 2011, while 2010 recorded P648.5 million.
Overall, the AMLC recorded a total of P3.9 billion across 417 transactions from 2005 to 2026, noting that financial activity tapered in the most recent years.
The bulk of the transactions involved credit memos amounting to P1.4 billion, debit memos at P1 billion, and fund transfers totaling P521.8 million.
This was followed by time deposit pre-terminations of P218.7 million and miscellaneous transactions of P209.2 million.
Other transactions identified included time deposit placements and payments amounting to P109.1 million each, withdrawals totaling P62.7 million, and check deposits worth P48.3 million.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, a lawyer and member of the justice committee, said the bank transactions were not reflected in the vice president’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, also a member of the committee, reviewed the yearly transaction figures alongside Duterte’s declared net worth in her SALNs, noting a significant gap between the reported financial activity and her declared personal assets.
The Ombudsman earlier confirmed to the committee that Duterte declared no cash on hand or bank deposits for six consecutive years from 2019 to 2024, even as her net worth rose more than ten times to P88.4 million in 2024 from a mere P7 million in 2007.
In earlier years, during her tenure as Davao City vice mayor and mayor, Duterte declared cash on hand and bank deposits ranging from roughly P2 million to P4.3 million.
Buenaventura explained that covered transactions refer to bank deposits of over P500,000 in a single day, which are automatically reported to the AMLC.
Suspicious transactions, meanwhile, are those flagged by banks due to red flags or doubts over their legitimacy, including possible links to unlawful sources, regardless of the amount.
He also cited Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which defines suspicious transactions as those with no underlying legal or trade obligation, involving improperly identified clients, or amounts inconsistent with a client’s business or financial capacity.
Buenaventura added that suspicious transactions also cover transactions that appear structured, linked to unlawful activity or money laundering, ones that show deviations from a client’s normal behavior or profile, or those that fall under any analogous circumstances, indicating possible irregularity.
The AMLC furnished the justice committee with two sets of documents – a report on covered transactions involving Duterte and her husband, and another on suspicious transactions from 2006 to 2025, as indicated in the subpoena.
It also submitted financial intelligence and investigation reports.
When asked whether the reports were produced only in compliance with the subpoena, Buenaventura said the AMLC has been continuously monitoring transactions flagged by banks.
He added that the agency merely generated its latest consolidated report, which still includes data it already had dating back to earlier years.
“We are going after the money, not the people behind it,” he pointed out. /apl /das