The math simply isn’t mathing for the Senate impeachment court when it examined ₱4.4 billion in bank transactions tied to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, and flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). Court presiding officer Francis Escudero and Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian confronted AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura about discrepancies...
Tag: corruption
Post
₱4.4B in bank transactions tied to Duterte, husband flagged by AMLC
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) flagged ₱4.4 billion in bank transactions tied to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, from 2007 to 2025, according to its executive director, Ronel Buenaventura. Testifying before the Senate impeachment court on Monday, Oct. 5, Buenaventura said the flagged bank transactions came from 666 covered transaction...
Post
Witness says she entrusted Duterte security chief with secret funds
The former special disbursing officer (SDO) for Vice President Sara Duterte’s ₱500 million in confidential funds admitted on Monday that she placed complete trust in former security aide Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, accepting without question his explanation and the documents he gave her to justify fund spending. Gina Acosta repeatedly told the Senate impeachment court...
Post
A year after the flood control Sona: Probes, protests, and the President’s possible culpability
One year after President Marcos shamed officials and contractors who, he said, stole from government-funded flood control projects, the nation has yet to come to grips with the scale of the thievery and who, at the highest levels of power, were responsible. The amounts involved are staggering. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who led the Senate’s probe...
Post
Can the truth prevail in dark politics?
People are truthful by default. In theory, this should create a fair and honest world with fewer heartbreak, less crime, better education, and bigger tax refund. Yet here we are, seemingly trapped in a political enterprise where liars get to lead and fools follow. We can all lie, indeed, even a squirrel or a 2-year-old...
Post
Joint testimony of 18 ex-bodyguards of Co mostly hearsay, says NBI
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has found that the joint testimony of 18 former bodyguards of fugitive and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, alleging they delivered billions of pesos in flood control funds to lawmakers, has “no probative value,” as it was mostly hearsay and a “coordinated narrative.” “The evidence is weak....
Post
7 reasons why the party-list system serves dynasties, not democracy
The House of Representatives has approved on second reading an antidynasty bill that critics say will end up legalizing—rather than penalizing—political dynasties. It was silent on the party-list issue, meaning that political-clan members can continue to be elected to party-list seats, taking their place alongside their relatives serving in Congress and local government posts. PCIJ...
Post
The Senate’s accountability gap in 4 points
The May 11 drama in the Senate was surprising only for its theatrics—a leadership coup in the afternoon, a fugitive senator hiding in the chamber’s inner recesses by early evening, and law enforcers kept at bay by closed doors and barbed wire. The Senate has long been the place where senators charged with serious crimes...
Post
Only 2 more signatures needed for flood control corruption report to reach Senate floor
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson is seeking two more members of the blue ribbon committee that would sign the controversial partial report on the flood control corruption so the chamber can push for reforms to “dismantle” its “very anatomy.” Reporting on the partial committee report on Tuesday on the floor, Lacson acknowledged that only...
Post
The House justice committee enters ‘a territory of forensic truth’
Vice President Sara Duterte had billion of pesos in transactions that were flagged by banks to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), despite declaring official income and net worth way below her bank records. For certain years, she failed to declare her cash on hand and cash deposits in her statements of assets, liabilities and net...