Arya News - Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared net worth rose from P7,250,497 ($115,344) in 2007 to P18,493,616.65 ($294,203) in 2008, a roughly 155 percent increase, the SALNs show. By 2025, her declared net worth had reached P98,656,131.20 (about $1.57 million).
MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared net worth jumped 13.6-fold from the time she entered government as Davao City vice mayor in 2007 to 2025, when she was already the country’s second-highest official, according to her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) presented before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday.
Duterte’s declared net worth rose from P7,250,497 in 2007 to P18,493,616.65 in 2008, a roughly 155 percent increase, the SALNs show.
By 2025, her declared net worth had reached P98,656,131.20.
The figures were presented through lawyer Karen Batu, officer in charge of the Central Records Division of the Office of the Ombudsman, which receives and keeps the SALNs of public officials.
She provided the impeachment court with its first detailed look at the evolution of Duterte’s declared wealth across nearly two decades in public office—from vice mayor and mayor of Davao City to vice president of the Philippines.
The prosecution is using the SALNs to support its Article 2 allegations that Duterte failed to fully and truthfully disclose her and her husband Manases Carpio’s assets, liabilities and net worth.
Batu authenticated copies of Duterte’s SALNs submitted to the agency, which serves as the repository for the declarations of public officials.
Private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih immediately zeroed in on the sharp increase in Duterte’s declared wealth during her first year in public office.
“Is it correct, Madam witness, that after just one year in public office, her net worth increased to more than double, based solely on the records?” Alih asked.
Defense lawyer Justin Gular objected to Alih’s characterization in Filipino and sought to have the statement stricken from the record.
The defense posed a continuing objection to Batu’s testimony, arguing that she should be limited to identifying and authenticating Duterte’s SALNs and should not testify on matters beyond her personal knowledge.
The prosecution said Batu was not being presented as the preparer of the SALNs but as the custodian of the official records.
Stocks without values
Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero overruled the objection, saying Batu could testify on documents in the Ombudsman’s custody. He stressed that she was not being called to testify on the truth or accuracy of the contents of Duterte’s declarations.
The prosecution then turned to Duterte’s declarations of business and financial interests.
Batu said Duterte declared no shares of stock in 2007. She reported “stocks equity paid” in 2008 but no declared shares in 2009.
From 2010 to 2012, Duterte listed various business and financial interests but did not declare the amount of her shares in those corporations.
Batu said the same was true of businesses Duterte listed in her SALNs from 2016 to 2025, when the Vice President “did not declare any shares of stock.”
Alih cited Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which requires public officials to declare personal property and acquisition cost. He maintained that shares of stock and other investments are considered personal property and should be included and itemized in the SALN.
That drew a pointed question from Senator-judge Sherwin Gatchalian: Could Duterte’s declared net worth have been undervalued because no values were placed on the corporations?
“Is that a possibility, that the net worth is undervalued because there is no value in the corporations? It’s declared but there is no value,” Gatchalian asked.
Batu declined to make that inference, saying the Ombudsman’s Records Division was merely a repository and did not verify the information contained in the SALNs.
Alih said the lack of values was precisely why acquisition costs should be declared.
Escudero, however, raised another issue: Where does the standard SALN form actually require an official to put the acquisition cost of business interests?
Batu explained that while the form provides for acquisition costs of real and personal property, the portion for “business interests” has no specific field for the amount. She said the cost of stock purchases could instead be disclosed under personal properties.
No cash declared since 2019
Batu testified that Duterte declared P2 million in cash in 2007 and 2008, P2.8 million in 2009, P3.66 million in 2010, P3.93 million in 2011 and P4.32 million in 2012.
During her second stint as Davao City mayor, she declared P3.75 million in 2016, P6.37 million in 2017 and P3.8 million in 2018.
But beginning in 2019, Duterte’s SALNs contained no declaration of cash on hand or cash in bank.
Batu confirmed that there was likewise no cash declaration for 2021 to 2025.
“For SALNs 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, there was no declared cash on hand or in bank,” she told the court.
Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo asked Batu to explain the distinction between cash on hand and cash in bank.
She said cash on hand referred to money physically held by an official or immediately at their disposal, while cash in bank referred to deposited funds.
Tulfo also asked whether an official could legitimately declare zero cash at year-end.
Batu said yes, explaining, “At the end of the year, Dec. 31, if you have no money at home, your declaration can actually be zero.”
Senator-judge Joel Villanueva meanwhile asked whether, before the Civil Service Commission issued its omnibus rules on SALNs in 2025, officials could lump cash on hand and cash in bank with other assets.
Batu said she could answer only from her own experience and that she had always declared cash on hand and cash in bank separately.
Senator-judge Vicente Sotto III also questioned her about foreign currency deposits, asking whether these remained assets of a public official and whether such deposits were routinely declared under cash on hand or cash in bank.
Batu declined to give a legal classification, stressing that her division only checked whether SALNs were properly submitted and complete. It did not verify the specific information declared by public officials.
On Monday, retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang told the impeachment court that cash declarations should be listed separately in the SALNs and not lumped with other personal properties.
Lapid breaks the tension
After hours of questions on wealth declarations, corporate interests and cash, Senator-judge Lito Lapid injected an unexpectedly light moment into the proceedings.
It was Lapid’s second interjection since the impeachment trial began on July 6.
Turning to Batu, Lapid recalled seeing a lawyer interviewed on television who supposedly claimed that politicians and government officials never submit truthful SALNs.
“He said, I don’t know if this is true, ‘no politician or government employee will submit a SALN that is true,’” Lapid said, asking Batu if that was correct.
“I am submitting my true SALN, Your Honor,” Batu answered.
Lapid then appeared to make sure there was no misunderstanding.
“That’s not a joke, huh?” he asked.
“It’s not,” Batu replied.
The exchange drew a smile in the chamber, a rare break in the otherwise intense scrutiny of Duterte’s wealth declarations.
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