A 379-square-meter residential lot Vice President Sara Duterte declared in her 2024 and 2025 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) matches the tax declarations in his custody, Davao City land assessor Jaime Adalin told the Senate impeachment court on Monday at the resumption of her trial.
But Adalin, an engineer and the first witness for Duterte’s defense team, said he based his statement on the same market value and acquisition cost stated in the tax declaration titles (TCTs) and SALNs, after prosecutors wondered how he could say so when the SALNs did not even state the property’s lot number, block number, or street.
Adalin eventually admitted he was not certain that this was the same property in Duterte’s SALN, after saying his assessors did not check whether the adjoining properties in Barangay 74-A—a subdivision in Matina Crossing, Davao City, that prosecutors said is made up of 5,000 square meters—had the same assessed or market value.
On Senator-judge Bam Aquino’s request, Adalin said: “If the court will require us [to submit] all properties by [Duterte’s husband] Manases Carpio in that barangay, then we will submit.”
Earlier in the hearing, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero pointed out that while Adalin said it was “possible” the property in Barangay Matina was the one declared by Duterte in her two SALNs, Adalin was not certain because assessors did not check whether other properties there had the same assessed and market value prices.
In her 2024 SALN, Duterte listed a residential lot in Barangay 74-A with a market value of ₱82,046 and an acquisition cost of ₱2,051,150.
House prosecutors earlier claimed that Duterte did not declare the Davao City property and another property in the Island Garden of Samal registered in the name of her husband Manases Carpio in her SALNs.
They presented two witnesses from the Register of Deeds who testified that these properties, valued at almost ₱10 million, were not included in Duterte’s SALNs.
Duterte appointee
At the resumption on Monday of the Vice President’s impeachment trial after a break last month, the defense team presented Adalin as its first witness in the now-sole article of impeachment accusing her of unexplained wealth. Adalin said he was appointed Davao City assessor when Duterte was serving as the city mayor.
The defense team focused on one of the two properties that House prosecutors alleged the Vice President had not declared in her SALNs.
Presenting the testimony offer of Adalin, defense lawyer Lindon Bacquel said the city assessor would establish that Duterte had declared the property with TCT No. 146-2024010775 in her SALN. Bacquel also said the prosecutors’ contention that this was not the same property was “malicious and completely false.”
In reply, House private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said Bacquel’s testimony offer of the defense witness was “improper and misleading.”
“There is no way that this witness could prove the property indicated in the SALN is the same property covered by the subject TCT,” Tolosa said, adding: “The only thing the witness could testify is that possibly these two properties are in the same barangay, but that will not in any way prove we’re talking about the same property considering the glaring discrepancies between the two, especially in the acquisition costs.”
Adalin said they used a property identification map to determine the location of the Carpio property. He also said the property’s assessed and market values in the TCTs matched those in Duterte’s SALN.
“The SALN only indicated Barangay 74-A; there was no technical description indicated in the TCT. It did not indicate the street or block number,” Tolosa told Adalin.
Bacquel objected to Tolosa’s line of questioning, but Escudero said Adalin should answer.
Senator-judge Panfilo Lacson interjected, saying Adalin should “convince the court that the property in the SALN is the same property” they have been discussing.
“If the tax declaration is attached to the SALN, that would be easy to identify,” Adalin conceded.
Taking note of Adalin’s statement, Tolosa said the tax declaration needed to be attached to a SALN, and the assessors could “pinpoint the actual location of the property.”
‘Not quite sure’
Escudero then told Adalin that since he acknowledged the possibility this was the same property, it was also possible it was not the same property. Adalin replied that he was “not quite sure.”
Escudero asked if the property’s assessed and market values were unique to the Carpio property and if other properties had the same assessed and market values. Adalin said: “Most probably.”
Aquino rose to ask if Adalin had checked other properties in Barangay 74-A, and suggested that he check if Carpio had other properties there.
In his cross-examination of Adalin, Tolosa showed Google Maps images of the Carpio property, and the city assessor agreed it was located near a mall and a university.
But when Tolosa showed a street view image of the property showing a building with a sign for Davao Prime Bistro, Adalin said he was not sure it was the property he was referring to.
He did not respond when Tolosa asked if the building was worth more than ₱10 million.
Escudero, meanwhile, asked if this was a residential lot as specified in Duterte’s SALN. Adalin said it would depend on the way it was being used.
“There are properties declared as commercial, but they are being used as residential,” Adalin said, prompting Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo to say he found it laughable that the Prime Bistro signage indicated it was a dining place and yet the city assessor said it could be residential.
“He’s lying through his teeth and making us fools. Do you put up a sign for dining but you end up using it for sleeping?” Tulfo said.
Frequent traveler?
Tolosa also asked if Adalin went on an all-expense-paid trip to China in November 2025 on the invitation of the Chinese consulate. He said he wanted to check on Adalin’s credibility by asking this question.
Adalin said this was “irrelevant,” prompting Escudero to say the city assessor was “funny.”
Initially, Adalin said he could not recall making such a trip, but when the hearing resumed after an hour-long lunch break, he acknowledged he did go to China with some Davao City officials, including the city treasurer and city engineer, last January.
He claimed it was a “personal trip” but could not recall who facilitated it.
This annoyed Senator-judges Risa Hontiveros, Raffy Tulfo and Erwin Tulfo, and Francis Pangilinan.
“There is nothing funny here,” Hontiveros told Adalin, who, while admitting having traveled to China, said he could not recall the places he went to on the trip.
Hontiveros said she found it “unbelievable” that he couldn’t remember the places he had visited during the trip. She said she had received a report that Adalin went to Beijing and Shanghai.
Raffy Tulfo said Adalin actually traveled a lot, given that he had visited China, Australia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Tulfo asked how much Adalin’s salary was to be able to afford these trips. Adalin said he makes ₱120,000 monthly as a city department head.
Tulfo said Adalin also went to China on a two-day trip in November 2018, and asked him about the travel agency he used. Adalin said he could not recall the travel agency’s name. CS
