‘Whale of evidence,’ in VP’s ‘fishing expedition’ claims

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May 3, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissing innuendos of a so-called “fishing expedition,” a lawmaker taunted the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday, saying the evidence they gathered in her impeachment complaints were gargantuan enough that it is equivalent to a whale.

“We saw not just a shark here, what we actually saw during the hearings was a whale where we have been discussing about the P6.77-billion total assets of the Duterte couple,” Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said of Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.

“This is not just speculation. These are all based on documentary evidence and bank records that have been laid out during the impeachment hearings,” he noted.

Ridon said the figures cited in the clarificatory hearings demonstrate that the inquiry is far from speculative, countering repeated claims by the defense panel that the proceedings were merely exploratory.

He pointed to detailed financial records discussed, including the P6.77 billion in total bank transactions involving the Duterte couple – broken down into P4.4 billion in inflows, P1.5 billion in outflows not reflected in statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, and P2.8 billion in supposed remaining balances that were also not declared.

Ridon stressed that the financial trail, supported by official records and sworn testimony from government agencies, forms a solid evidentiary foundation for the case.

Sealed records

Duterte and Carpio’s legal team is preparing its position in anticipation of the issue of the couple’s sealed tax records, which will likely be raised during the impeachment trial in the Senate.

In an interview with True FM, Michael Poa, spokesperson of the 16-man Duterte defense team, noted that it was not the camp of the Vice President who opposed the opening of the box.

“It was the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), because we also cannot compel them to violate the provisions of the tax code. For us, honestly, we haven’t reached that point yet,” Poa said. — Bella Cariaso