MANILA – Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno said the large gap between Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared assets and transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) could be a “smoking gun” in the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

In a media interview, Diokno said Duterte needs to account for the discrepancy between her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and the multi-billion-peso transactions identified in the AMLC report submitted to the House Committee on Justice.

“Kailangang ipaliwanag ni Vice President Sara Duterte ‘yung lumabas sa report ng AMLC kumpara sa mga idineklara niya sa kanyang SALN (Vice President Sara Duterte should explain the gap between the AMLC report and what she declared in her SALN),” Diokno said.

He cited AMLC findings presented during Wednesday’s impeachment hearing, which showed that the net inflow that passed through Duterte’s accounts reached PHP2.87 billion.

Diokno also pointed to records from the Office of the Ombudsman indicating that Duterte declared a net worth of PHP88.5 million in her 2024 SALN.

“Napakalaki ng pagkakaiba, ang discrepancy ng dalawang halaga na ‘yan at either dito sa committee o kaya sa Senado kung ‘yan ang kagustuhan niya, ay dapat ipaliwanag niya (There’s a big difference, the discrepancy between the two amounts, and she must explain them either to the House committee or to the Senate if she wishes),” he said.

“Para sa akin ito’y isang (For me, this is a) smoking gun, at least insofar as probable cause is concerned,” Diokno added.

The lawmaker said the issue is central to allegations of unexplained wealth, which form part of the grounds cited in the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.

He also rejected the argument that only transactions during Duterte’s vice presidency should be considered, stressing that earlier financial activity may still be relevant if tied to assets that should have been declared.

“Hindi natin mahihiwalay ‘yung nangyari noon bilang lingkod bayan sa nangyari ngayon lalo na ‘yung nakita natin na ganoon kalalaking bilyon-bilyong piso pala ang dumaan sa mga accounts nila (We cannot separate what happened then as a civil servant and what happened now especially when we saw that billions of pesos have passed through their accounts),” he said.

During Wednesday’s hearing, lawyer Karen Batu of the Central Records Division of the Office of the Ombudsman presented a consolidated timeline of Duterte’s SALNs from 2007 to 2024, showing her net worth rising from PHP7.25 million in 2007 to PHP88.51 million in 2024, with gradual increases in intervening years.