Officer-in-charge of the Records Division of the Office of the Ombudsman, Karen Batu, testifies before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Screengrab from Senate livestream.
Manuel Mogato | September 15, 2026
MANILA — An official of the anti-corruption agency took the witness stand on Tuesday to testify on Vice President Sara Duterte’s official declaration of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), proving the prosecution’s allegations she amassed wealth beyond her income.
On the 25th day of trial of the vice president, Lawyer Karen Batu told the Senate impeachment court there were omissions and discrepancies in Duterte’s SALN filings from 2007 to 2025.
Batu, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Ombudsman’s central records division, said the vice president also failed to file an exit SALN in 2013 after her term as Davao City mayor. (Also read: Prosecution presents expert witness on anti-corruption laws)
Duerte’s lawyers attempted to prevent Batu from testifying but the presiding senator-judge, Francis Escudero, allowed her to testify to establish a baseline and comparison of her wealth when she was elected vice president in 2022.
The prosecution was proving Duterte’s guilt in hiding her wealth, an offense that could remove her from office and bar her from seeking any public office.
Batu had first appeared in April at the impeachment proceedings against Duterte at the House of Representatives’ committee on justice.
During the committee on justice’s hearing, Batu confirmed the veracity of Duterte’s SALNs from 2007 to 2024.
The prosecution said Duterte’s SALNs from 2007 and 2024 are significant to prove allegations of the vice president’s unexplained wealth.
At Tuesday’s trial, Lawyer James Alih said the vice president violated the law when she engage in businesses, through several companies, even after she was elected into office.t
Alih also said, based on Duterte’s own declarations under oath in her SALNs for 2007 to 2025, her declared net worth, as well as that of her spouse, lawyer Manases Carpio, increased from 7,250,497 pesos in 2007 to 65,308,841 pesos in 2021, before she was elected vice president.
Duterte’s SALN further increased to 98,656,131.20 after national elections in 2025, or by around 91 million pesos.
The prosecution was out to prove in article II of the impeachment complaint that Duterte has unexplained wealth, and that she failed to declare it in her SALN.
The prosecution’s lead counsel for article II, Congressman Terry Ridon said that the Vice President’s net worth from 2007 to 2024 rose by 1,000 percent, which he said is not proportionate to her salary.
Ridon explained that Duterte’s SALN in 2008 showed a net worth of 18.49 million pesos, while her net worth in her 2023 SALN grew to 77.50 million pesos and 88.51 million pesos for 2024 — representing a 378 percent increase from 2008 to 2024.
However, the lawmaker noted that if figures were based on Duterte’s 2007 SALN — the first year that she became a public official — the jump from a net worth of 7.2 million pesos to 2024’s 88.51 million pesos, representing a 1,120 percent spike.
