MANILA, Philippines — Two properties in the Davao Region allegedly acquired by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, were not reflected in her 2025 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), Land Registration Authority (LRA) officials testified before the Senate impeachment court on Thursday.
Davao City Register of Deeds IV Kathy Florence Baldonado and Island Garden City of Samal Deputy Register of Deeds III Marco Pineda took the witness stand during the 32nd day of the impeachment trial to present land records involving properties registered in Carpio’s name.
The House prosecution presented the witnesses as part of its case on Article II of the impeachment complaint, which involves allegations concerning unexplained wealth.
During direct examination by House prosecutor Rep. Keith Flores, Baldonado testified on records showing that Carpio acquired a 379-square-meter parcel of land in Juna Subdivision, Matina Crossing, Talomo, Davao City, Davao del Sur.
According to the Deed of Absolute Sale, the property was sold to Carpio on July 2, 2024, for P6 million. A real estate mortgage worth P8 million was subsequently executed in August 2024 in favor of Philippine Savings Bank, with Carpio and Duterte named in the document.
Asked whether the property was reflected in Duterte’s 2025 SALN, Baldonado said there was no corresponding entry based on the property’s price, location and mode of acquisition.
“Based on the record I have, there is nothing in 2025 (SALN)—there is no match in the price and the location, and the mode of acquisition is stated in 2025 as construction and here in our document it is deed of sale,” Baldonado told the court.
Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero said he had also reviewed Duterte’s 2025 and previous SALNs and did not find the specific property among the real properties declared by the vice president.
The defense, however, disputed the suggestion that the Matina property was omitted from Duterte’s SALN.
Defense counsel Lindon Bacquel argued that the property’s location may correspond to an address identified differently in Duterte’s declaration.
“The court must take mandatory judicial notice of the geographical divisions in the Philippines that Matina Crossing is also known as Brgy. 74A, which is declared in the SALN,” Bacquel said.
Escudero said the issue could be addressed during Bacquel’s cross-examination of Baldonado.
The presiding officer later clarified that the property could not be specifically identified from the SALN because the geographical descriptions in the declaration were “too generic.”
Escudero also pointed to other property entries in Duterte’s SALN, noting that one sale involving a parcel of land in 76A, Davao City, was listed at P10 million, while another property in Dumoy, Davao City, was listed at P2 million.
Neither amount, he said, corresponded to the P6-million Matina property identified in the land records.
Samal property
The prosecution also presented Pineda to testify about another property allegedly acquired by Carpio in the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte.
Pineda testified that registry records show Carpio acquired a 751-square-meter parcel of land in Barangay Matanos, Samal, on March 15, 2018, for P3,453,849.
After comparing the property records with Duterte’s SALN, Pineda said there was no exact corresponding entry.
“Nothing in this SALN perfectly matches the DOAS (Deed of Absolute Sale),” Pineda told the court.
Escudero referred to Duterte’s 2019 SALN, which listed two land purchases in Barangay Aundanao, Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos), with declared acquisition amounts of P2 million and P1 million.
Pineda, however, said the entries did not match the deed of sale for the property in his records.
While the amounts were relatively close to the total purchase price of the Samal property, Pineda said that the title covered only one parcel of land, while the SALN contained two separate declarations.
