Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon leveled serious allegations against Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, on Tuesday, describing flagged bank transactions totaling ₱6.8 billion as a massive evidence “nuclear bomb.”
The lawmaker’s remarks come in response to regulatory reports detailing substantial financial movements linked to the couple.
Ridon emphasized that the sheer volume of the funds necessitates an immediate and transparent public accounting.
“₱6.8 billion in total transactions, ₱4.4 billion in inflows, and ₱1.5 billion in outflows. The question is: where did the ₱4.4 billion come from, and where did the ₱1.5 billion go?”
According to Ridon, the scale of these transactions goes beyond mere suspicion, suggesting that the “smoking gun” metaphor is insufficient to describe the gravity of the situation. He maintained that the Filipino people deserve to know the origins and final destinations of such vast sums of money.
Addressing the legal retaliation from the Vice President’s camp, Ridon dismissed the criminal complaint filed by Carpio against members of the House of Representatives, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
He asserted that the legal move would not derail the legislative inquiry into the matter.
“That has zero effect on the House Committee on Justice. We will vote tomorrow on probable cause as if there was no complaint,” Ridon stated.
The Representative further expressed confidence that the complaint filed by Carpio in Quezon City would ultimately fail, predicting that prosecutors would find no merit in the case.
“Our expectation is that even at that stage, it will be dismissed because it has no basis,” he added.
The House Committee on Justice is expected to proceed with its scheduled vote regarding the determination of probable cause, signaling that the legislative branch intends to push forward with its investigation despite the ongoing legal friction.