A BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) official testified on Wednesday that alleged drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy was named as the payee of a P16.85-million manager’s check dated May 30, 2016, as prosecutors examined transactions involving a joint time deposit account of Vice President Sara Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
BPI Central Metro Manila Division head Marwin Galvez identified the check during Day 35 of the impeachment proceedings, as the prosecution presented manager’s checks it said were sourced from the BPI account jointly held by the vice president and her father.
A manager’s check is a bank-issued check purchased by an account holder, with the bank assuming the obligation to pay the stated amount.
The prosecution presented the checks as part of its effort to establish an alleged pattern of concealing or moving funds so that large amounts would not appear in year-end account balances. Prosecutors have linked the transactions to about P96 million in funds.
Among the checks presented was Check 20536, dated May 30, 2016, for P16,852,782.94.
“Sir, to complete the P96 million, who was the payee of this P16 million?” private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih asked Galvez.
“Based on the records we submitted, Your Honor, the payee of the manager’s check dated May 30, 2016, is Samuel C. Uy,” Galvez replied.
Uy, a Davao-based businessman, has been publicly linked to the Duterte family and was a major campaign donor to former president Duterte.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has alleged that the Dutertes received payouts from Uy, whom he has accused of being a drug lord.
Trillanes has also alleged that Sara Duterte, her father, her brothers Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, former president Duterte’s common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña and their daughter Veronica “Kitty” Duterte received P181.6 million in checks from Uy between 2011 and 2013.
The allegations echo claims Trillanes previously raised before the House justice committee during proceedings on Sara Duterte’s impeachment.
Trillanes had been scheduled to testify for the House prosecution under Article II of the impeachment complaint, which covers allegations of unexplained wealth and undeclared assets involving the vice president.
Prosecutors, however, later announced that they would no longer call him to the witness stand.
He said he would instead make public the information he had intended to present in court.
Sara Duterte’s camp has denied that she received checks from Uy. Her spokesman previously said that although Uy was a friend of her father, the vice president maintained that she never received money or checks from him.
Meanwhile, Presiding Officer Francis Escudero said Sara Duterte’s signature does not appear on any of the BPI documents covering transactions involving the joint time deposit account linked to her and her father.
Responding to a question from defense counsel Michael Poa, Escudero said the vice president’s signature was absent from the transaction documents included in BPI’s inventory of pre-marked exhibits submitted to the impeachment court.
“Based on the inventory list of pre-marked exhibits submitted by BPI in response to the subpoena of this court, the signature of the vice president respondent does not appear in any of the transaction documents, such as the opening and closing of the time deposit, the request for manager’s check and similar transactions,” Escudero said.
Poa later cross-examined Galvez about the documents submitted by BPI.
He noted that the applications for manager’s checks presented during the hearing were signed by Rodrigo Duterte and did not bear Sara Duterte’s signature.
Poa also asked whether BPI records contained any withdrawal made by Sara Duterte.
“Based on the documents you submitted, I did not see any record of a withdrawal by Sara Duterte. Can you confirm that?” Poa asked.
Galvez said he would need to review all the documents before giving a definitive answer.
Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros questioned the defense over its claim that Sara Duterte had no recollection of or participation in transactions involving the joint BPI account with her father.
Poa said his February 2026 letter to BPI sought to determine whether accounts under the names of Sara and Rodrigo Duterte existed and, if so, to obtain the relevant records.
“The only point of this letter is to ask whether the accounts exist and, if they do exist, to at least give us the documents,” Poa said.
“We’re looking into these accounts, and I was asked by the vice president to verify because she doesn’t remember having such an account, and she says she has no transactions,” he added.
Poa said Sara Duterte had no recollection of or participation in the transactions involving the P41-million manager’s check linked to the joint account.
He reiterated that Rodrigo Duterte was the only signatory on the relevant applications.
According to Poa, Sara Duterte became aware of the BPI accounts only after they were raised during a House hearing.
The letter to BPI stated that the vice president had “no knowledge, participation or recollection” of maintaining the accounts or having any beneficial interest in them.
Poa also emphasized that the request for the bank records was not intended to prejudice former president Rodrigo Duterte or prevent his counsel from raising their own legal defenses concerning the accounts.
