Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, owned 51 registered guns valued at ₱7.2 million, including fully automatic weapons that a House prosecution witness said were “capable of bursts of fire.”
“When you pull the trigger, it fires continuously,” Police Maj. Joericson Sangalang, records chief of the Philippine National Police-Firearms and Explosives Office, speaking in Filipino, described the power of Class A light weapons, which in this case included Bushmaster rifles owned by Duterte and her husband.
Sangalang was the third prosecution witness to testify on Monday, Sept. 28, before the Senate impeachment court, which resumed tackling Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.
His testimony nearly did not push through after several senator-judges, including presiding officer Francis Escudero, did not think the House prosecutors’ presentation of the couple’s firearms was relevant to the impeachment allegations that the Vice President had unexplained wealth.
Senator-judges Erwin Tulfo, Vicente Sotto III, Miguel Zubiri, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Raffy Tulfo all questioned the relevance of Sangalang’s testimony.
“Many Filipinos have firearms; there are many gun collectors. I don’t see the relevance here,” Sen. Erwin Tulfo said.
SALN item
Sotto said he owns guns and declares them in his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) under the item “personal properties.”
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he does the same but itemized the firearms in his SALN.
Zubiri said he does not see any violation, if ever, and added that he does not think Sangalang’s testimony has “that much weight.”
Saying he too had reservations about the testimony, Cayetano said the prosecution and defense teams should be able to come together rather than let the senator-judges decide on what is presented as evidence.
Defense lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa said they believe Sangalang was an “irrelevant witness.”
When Escudero asked Sangalang if he could put a price on the firearms owned by Duterte and her husband, the PNP official replied in the affirmative.
Speaking to House prosecutor and San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora, who is presenting the witness, Escudero said: “I hope you see where we are coming from. Even assuming (Sangalang) can put a price on the firearms of the spouses owned, ₱7 million is well within the SALN she filed, which was ₱98 million at the latest.”
He also pointed out there is “no requirement for a firearm to be declared separately in the SALN.”
But Zamora stated the SALN guidelines require a statement of the firearms.
Citing Section 34 of the SALN guidelines, she said it provides for “personal properties registered with appropriate agencies such as but not limited to motor vehicles, aircraft, and firearms shall be declared individually.”
PNP certification
Zamora also said Sangalang issued a certification of the couple’s firearms and their values.
In the end, Escudero allowed Sangalang’s testimony to proceed but told Zamora to “abbreviate” her direct examination, noting that he and some senator-judges did not find the records to be “not as convincing as to ill-gotten wealth.”
According to Sangalang, the Vice President has 22 firearms while her husband has 30. Both their firearms are under Type 5 of the License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOFP).
Duterte’s firearms included 14 pistols, five rifles, two revolvers, and one shotgun. Her husband owns 10 pistols, 10 rifles, two revolvers, one shotgun, and an expired licensed firearm, Sangalang said.
Zamora asked what is required if a gun holder has a Type 5 LTOFP, and the PNP official said they should have a vault to store the firearms and that authorities need to conduct a physical inspection.
Fully automatic
On who should own fully automatic weapons, Sangalang cited Section 10 of Republic Act No. 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act, and said only law enforcement agents can acquire a Class A light weapon, specifically the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP.
“However, for those individuals who acquired them before this law took effect, they will be allowed to register, but they cannot transfer them to an LTOFP holder,” he said.
Sangalang said the price of the couple’s firearms was based on a market survey his office conducted and not acquisition costs. For instance, a Bushmaster rifle owned by Duterte is priced at ₱200,000.
Sangalang said the couple’s 51 firearms cost ₱7.22 million in total: Duterte’s firearms were worth ₱2,184,550, while her husband’s, ₱5,035,820.
Zamora asked how large a gun vault should be, and Sangalang said the couple’s firearms, for instance, needed either a large vault or a set of vaults.
She then asked whether the couple’s firearms can be considered an armory. But Narvasa objected to that question as it was “speculative,” and Escudero agreed.
Zamora asked whether a vice president should own a large number of firearms, and Narvasa objected to the “hypothetical” question, and Escudero sustained it.
GenCorp interest
Before Sangalang took the witness stand, defense lawyer Robert Batungbacal cross-examined Rendell Sopeña, division chief at the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), on his testimony last week that GenCorp Industries Inc., a food corporation, which Duterte listed as a business interest in her SALN, benefitted from 49 contracts awarded to it from 2022 to 2026.
But House lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro objected to Batungbacal’s line of questioning after he sought answers on the bidding and awards procedure, when she stressed Sopeña can only testify on the PhilGEPS database.
Senator-judge Panfilo Lacson stood up to suggest that the defense change its strategy in cross-examining prosecution witnesses based on his observations of its tactic.
“This is not a prejudgment, but maybe you should adjust their defense strategy,” Lacson said, noting that the defense team’s compulsion to be technical and to look for faults and flaws “is not registering to him.”
Sopeña disclosed that 11 of 15 contracts that the City of Davao awarded to GenCorp did not undergo bidding, only “negotiated, small-value procurement.” The remaining four underwent public bidding.
Replying to Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros, Sopeña said these 11 contracts had an estimated value of from ₱7–8 million.
On Tuesday, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte is set to testify before the impeachment court. He was supposed to testify on Monday, but begged off and promised to be at the impeachment court on Tuesday. CS
Read more: 49 gov’t contracts worth ₱35.9M awarded to Duterte-linked food firm
