Jamaine Punzalan

Atty. Manases "Mans" Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, arrives at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Carpio filed criminal complaints against BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC Executive Director Matthew Buenaventura, and members of the House Committee on Justice over alleged violations of banking privacy and data protection laws.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP Sara Duterte Impeachment

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

<p>A spokesperson of lawyer Manases Carpio, the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, asserted Tuesday that the House justice committee hearings on the impeachment complaints against Duterte are not part of the exception to the bank secrecy law.</p><p>Lawyer Harlin Neil Abayon III said impeachment is a two-aspect process in which the initiation stage is exclusive to the House of Representatives while the actual trial is exclusive to the Senate.</p><p>“What they are doing is similar to a preliminary investigation. So if we relate it to those statements plus initiation stage, hindi pa po korte talaga ‘yung House of Representatives when they are doing their impeachment function. Therefore, if they are not a court, it can be argued that they do not fall under the definition of the impeachment na exception for bank secrecy,” he said in a DZMM interview.</p><p>This was refuted by House justice committee chairwoman Gerville Luistro who noted that the exception to the bank secrecy law refers to the impeachment case, and not the trial. </p><p>“We beg to disagree to that because maliwanag sa exception ng Bank Secrecy Law, impeachment case. And when does the complaint become an impeachment case? That is upon referral to the Justice Committee. As a matter of fact, the law does not distinguish between a proceeding before the Justice Committee and the trial before the Senate. Sinabi lang impeachment case at ang sabi sa ating batas, when the law does not provide, when the law does not distinguish, we should not distinguish,” she said. </p><p>She reiterated the justice committee proceedings are constitutional, adding that the panel did not subpoena the banks but the AMLC to produce Duterte’s bank transactions. </p><p>Abayon said that under existing jurisprudence, bank records have been divulged to the impeachment court, which is the Senate. This is what happened during the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona who was later removed from office after the Senate vote. </p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bTNOgHiKI0k?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>“It can be argued. Wala pa kasing clear interpretation of the law po. If we look at the Anti-Money Laundering Law itself sir, Section 8A, absolute kasi ‘yung terms doon. Plus if you correlate it with Section 16 of the same law, nilagay din nila doon that you cannot use AMLA records for political reasons. So medyo, ano ba, madaming rooms to clarify talaga legal questions,” Abayon said.</p><p>Carpio, through his legal counsel, filed on Monday charges against Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, as well as House Committee on Justice chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas and Reps. Percival Cendaña and Chel Diokno of Akbayan party-list and Leila de Lima of Mamamayang Liberal party-list over the disclosure of bank records at a recent House hearing.</p><p>This, after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) revealed during last week&#x27;s impeachment hearing that it had received reports of &quot;suspicious&quot; and &quot;covered&quot; bank transactions amounting to P6.77 billion linked to Duterte and Carpio during a period of nearly 20 years.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RstUeMcG1N4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Carpio’s lawyer Peter Danao earlier said that under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the AMLC should first get a bank inquiry order from the Court of Appeals if it wanted to secure &quot;bank information.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;NO ADMISSION WHATSOVER&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In the DZMM interview, Abayon said Carpio did not make any admission by filing the complaint against several officials for violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Bank Secrecy Law and the Data Privacy Act.</p><p>“He&#x27;s just enforcing his right under the law, no admission whatsoever. As a matter of fact, wala pa namang actual case filed against him in relation to those specific bank records. So in simple terms, he has nothing to admit at present,” he said.</p><p>He noted Carpio had not received a copy of the AMLC report and had relied on the justice committee hearing livestream for the annexes of the complaint.</p><p>Abayon said Carpio’s main concern in filing the case was his business interest, given that his clients had been identified as a result of the last impeachment hearing, which violates his rights to confidentiality.</p><p>“‘Gusto lang niya i-enforce ngayon ‘yung penal provisions in relation to Section 8A, to be specific of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Kasi ang nakalagay sa Section 8A, shall not reveal in any manner any information known to them by reason of their office,” he said.</p><p>The spokesman said Carpio sent letters to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Anti-Money Laundering Council before last week’s hearing, urging officials of the 2 agencies to exercise caution “because there are many questionable areas in relation to confidentiality of AMLC records and BIR records.”</p><p>This is probably the reason why BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza brought the Duterte couple’s records during last week’s hearing but warned these should only be opened in an executive session due to the law against unlawful disclosure of confidential taxpayer information, Abayon said. </p><p>“He protected himself. Kasi clear din po ‘yun sa [National Internal Revenue Code],” he said. </p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eDbDKwvVz-E?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>A spokesperson of lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, believes the House of Representatives justice committee hearings on the impeachment complaints against Duterte are not part of the exception to the bank secrecy law.</p>

A spokesperson of lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, believes the House of Representatives justice committee hearings on the impeachment complaints against Duterte are not part of the exception to the bank secrecy law.

Mans Carpio's spox argues House impeach hearings not exempt from bank secrecy prohibition

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Mans Carpio's spox argues House impeach hearings not exempt from bank secrecy prohibition

David Dizon,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 28, 2026 01:27 PM PHT

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Updated April 28, 2026 01:32 PM PHT

Read More:

bank secrecy

manases carpio

sara duterte

confidentiality

amlc

bsp

impeachment

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