Sara Duterte's P64,000 Davao payout not reflected in 2024 ITR, prosecution says

The P64,000 payout that Vice President Sara Duterte received from the Davao City government in 2023 for her services as city mayor was not reflected in her income tax return (ITR) for the following year, the House prosecution panel said Tuesday.

Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia made the claim, citing Duterte’s 2024 ITR, which did not indicate any compensation received from either the Davao City government or the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Divinagracia then asked defense witness and Davao City Accountant Vingelin Bajan to confirm that Duterte’s 2024 ITR did not include compensation from either office. However, Bajan declined to give an answer.

“I cannot answer, Attorney,” Bajan said.

Bajan submitted photocopies of payroll summaries and disbursement vouchers, among other documents, showing that the P64,194.72 salary differential paid to Duterte covered the periods January to December 2020 and January to December 2021.

Bajan, however, said the payout was made only in January 2023 because the supporting documents were completed only at that time.

She also said she no longer had the original copies because these had already been submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Divinagracia then asked Bajan if she had documentary proof that the COA had received the payroll summaries.

Bajan replied that transmitting such documents to the COA was the practice.

Divinagracia pointed out that this was not what she had asked and pressed Bajan to confirm: “In short, you do not have proof that these original documents are already in the possession of COA. Is that correct?”

Bajan replied, “Yes, Ma'am. Hindi ko po nadala po.”

(I was not able to bring them.)

Meanwhile, Senator Raffy Tulfo and Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero questioned the handwritten corrections on some of the disbursement vouchers submitted by Bajan. The documents originally indicated the period January to December 2022, but this was later changed to January to December 2020 and January to December 2021.

Asked why the corrections were countersigned by hand, Bajan said the changes were made after supporting documents showed that the payouts to Duterte, now the Vice President, covered the periods January to December 2020 and January to December 2021.

“It was corrected on December 30, 2022,” Bajan said.

Tulfo then asked whether the correction was made belatedly, noting that the Constitution prohibits the Vice President from receiving double compensation.

Bajan attributed the delay to the lengthy process of preparing the disbursement vouchers. —VBL, GMA News