The husband of Vice President Sara Duterte filed criminal complaints on Monday, April 27, against several lawmakers and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona Jr. over the disclosure of bank records during House proceedings.
Lawyer Mans Carpio filed the complaint before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office against Remolona, Anti-Money Laundering Council Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, and members of the House Committee on Justice.
Those named in the complaint include Reps. Gerville Luistro (Batangas), Percival Cendaña (Akbayan party-list) and Chel Diokno (Akbayan party-list), and Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal party-list).
The complaint stems from the disclosure of bank transaction records involving Carpio and the vice president during House Committee on Justice hearings on the impeachment complaint against Duterte on April 14 and 22.
Carpio is accusing the respondents of violating laws on bank secrecy, anti-money laundering and data privacy, based on the disclosures made during the hearings.
The complaint
Carpio alleged that the respondents conspired to publicly disclose and unravel bank transaction reports, account balances, and records belonging to him and Duterte spanning a 20-year period from 2006 to 2025.
This disclosure, Carpio contends, occurred without his prior notice or written consent and proceeded despite a “cautionary letter” he sent to the AMLC on April 15, 2026, objecting to any release of his private financial information.
“Neither I nor my wife VP Sara has ever consented to the AMLC or any of its officers and staff to make public any transaction reports in relation to our bank accounts,” Capio’s complaint read.
Carpio also described the move of the House Committee on Justice as a “scripted” effort by lawmakers to weaponize the AMLC for “political black propaganda” and harassment against the Duterte family.
He said the committee facilitated the illegal move by issuing the subpoena and allowing the public disclosure during a “widely publicized hearing.”
Carpio cited Section 8(a) of Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which states that the AMLC and its Secretariat “shall not reveal, in any manner, any information known to them by reason of their office.”
“The phrases “SHALL” and “IN ANY MANNER” are self explanatory. The prohibition is ABSOLUTE, and mandatory. There is no possible exception provided by the law for disclosure of bank transactions and reports to the AMLC. Not even a supposed Subpoena Duces Tecum from the HCOJ (House Committee on Justice) can amend, much less circumvent, this absolute prohibition and restriction. Absent any amendatory law, the prohibition must hold. It sticks,” the complaint read.
Counter-arguments. Rep. Gerville “Jinky” Luistro (Batangas), chair of the House panel, said Monday she has anticipated Carpio’s complaint as an option of the defense.
“These are all attempts to suppress the disclosure of this information,” Luistro said in a radio interview.
Luistro also contended that it was not the bank and records from it that were issued a subpoena. “Instead we opted to subpoena the AMLC with its report of covered and suspicious transactions.”
Other assertions
Carpio’s complaint also alleges a breach of the Bank Secrecy Law. The law mandates bank deposits to be of an “absolutely confidential nature,” and the Data Privacy Act, which protects “sensitive personal information” from unauthorized disclosure.
During the House Committee on Justice’s impeachment hearing on April 22, the AMLC disclosed that accounts linked to Duterte and her husband were involved in aggregate transactions totaling P6.77 billion from 2006 to 2025.
Among the P6.77 billion, P3.77 billion came from Duterte’s accounts, while P2.99 billion came from Carpio’s.
None of these transactions, however, appeared in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).
The Office of the Ombudsman, which submitted her SALN filings from 2007 to 2024, confirmed that Duterte declared zero cash on hand and zero bank deposits for six straight years starting in 2019, even as her net worth climbed from P55.6 million to P88.5 million over the same period.
For Luistro, the House committee was within its rights as the Bank Secrecy Law itself lists impeachment as an exception to its confidentiality provisions, tied with the AMLC’s own rules for secrecy.