Sara Duterte did not declare stock shares in businesses in several SALNs, Ombudsman official says

Vice President Sara Duterte did not declare her shares of stock in businesses she and her husband, Manases Carpio, owned or had interests in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) for 2007, 2009 to 2012, and 2016 to 2025, an Office of the Ombudsman official said Tuesday.

Lawyer Karen Batu of the Ombudsman’s Central Records Division made the testimony during Day 25 of Duterte’s impeachment trial.

Batu was presented as a prosecution witness for Article 2, which accuses Duterte of accumulating unexplained wealth through:

• failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities and net worth in their SALNs, including her SALNs for 2022, 2023 and 2024; and
• failure to divest and instead willfully continue her business interests during her tenure as vice president in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Asked by private prosecutor James Alih whether Duterte declared shares of stock in the businesses and financial interests listed in her 2007 to 2009 SALNs, Batu replied:

“Wala pong nakadeclare na shares of stock sa 2007. Meron pong stocks equity paid in 2008, wala rin pong naka-declare na shares of stock in 2009.”

(There were no declared shares of stock in 2007. There were stocks equity paid in 2008, but no declared shares of stock in 2009.)

Batu also said that while Duterte listed various business interests and financial connections in her SALNs from 2010 to 2012, she did not declare the amount of her shares of stock in the corporations.

“Sa tatlong SALNs po [covering 2010 to 2012], wala pong dineklara si VP Sara,” Batu said.

(In the three SALNs covering 2010 to 2012, Vice President Sara did not declare any shares of stock.)

Asked the same question about the businesses Duterte declared in her SALNs from 2016 to 2025, Batu said, “Based po sa SALNs, wala pong nakalagay na shares of stocks si VP Sara.”

(Based on the SALNs, Vice President Sara did not declare any shares of stock.)

Among the business interests and financial connections declared by Duterte in the SALNs covering the years cited were:

• Sgt. Fortune Horse Corp.
• 3Kids Inc. Trucking Services Inc.
• Davao Bounty Times Food Corp.
• Davao Emerging Taipan Corp.
• Davao New Royal Taipan Corp., allegedly retired and formerly Davao Emerging Taipans Corp.
• Timesquare Bee Foods Corp., formerly Great Jolly Times Foods Corp.
• Gencorp Industries Inc., formerly Timesquare Bee Foods Corp.
• City Hall King Chow Foods Corp.
• Metro City Chow Foods Corp., allegedly formerly known as City Hall King Chow Foods Corp.
• Tapang at Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines Inc.
• Cykt Inc.
• Zelta Matiem Salon, under Carpio
• Carpio Lawyers
• 888 Bistro
• Cale88 Foods Corp.
• Madayaw Fisheries Corp.
• Mati City Ice Plant and Cold Storage Inc.
• Amianan Shores Inc.
• Geometry Security and Investigation Agency Inc.
• Cabletow 88 Shipping and Marine Services Inc.

Private prosecutor James Alih, during the questioning by Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero, cited Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which requires public officials to disclose their assets, including stocks, in their SALNs.

The provision states:

“All public officials and employees, except those who serve in an honorary capacity, laborers and casual or temporary workers, shall file under oath their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and a Disclosure of Business Interests and Financial Connections and those of their spouses and unmarried children under 18 years of age living in their households."

"The two documents shall contain information on the following: (a) real property, its improvements, acquisition costs, assessed value and current fair market value; (b) personal property and acquisition cost; (c) all other assets such as investments, cash on hand or in banks, stocks, bonds, and the like; (d) liabilities, and; (e) all business interests and financial connections.”

The same provision also states that the documents must be filed: “(a) within thirty (30) days after assumption of office; (b) on or before April 30, of every year thereafter; and (c) within thirty (30) days after separation from the service.”

“Shares of stocks have to be included under personal properties in the SALN. That is our position, Your Honor, and it should also be itemized,” Alih said.

Senate President and Senator-judge Sherwin Gatchalian then asked whether Duterte’s net worth could have been undervalued because she did not declare the amount of her shares of stock in the businesses.

“It is possible,” Alih replied.

“It is possible, Your Honor, that is why dapat po klaro, at the onset, iyong amounts, values of shares of stock,” Gatchalian said.

(That is why the amounts or values of the shares of stock should be clear from the outset.)— MCG, GMA News