Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura takes his oath as a prosecution witness during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay City on Monday, October 5, 2026. Buenaventura is set to testify and present documents under Article II of the impeachment case, which alleges unexplained wealth involving the Vice President. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Impeachment presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero on Monday rejected the defense’s bid to bar Anti-Money Laundering Council Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura from testifying on information involving Vice President Sara Duterte’s foreign-currency deposits.
The defense had invoked the confidentiality of dollar accounts under Republic Act No. 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, arguing that AMLC information involving foreign-currency deposits could not be disclosed during the impeachment trial.
Escudero, however, said the FCDA’s confidentiality provision must be read alongside the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which requires covered institutions to report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC.
He also cited Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas regulations stating that the absolute confidentiality of foreign-currency deposits does not apply to covered institutions that report such deposits to the AMLC through covered transaction reports or suspicious transaction reports.
Escudero rejects Duterte defense bid to exclude AMLC exec as witness
“Thus, the suspicious transaction reports or covert transaction reports submitted to the AMLC do not acquire the status of absolute confidentiality merely because they contain information concerning foreign currency deposit accounts,” Escudero said.
He said that the court was not ordering banks to directly disclose Duterte’s foreign-currency deposits.
“The witness is simply being asked to testify on records and financial information that are already in his lawful possession through reports submitted by covert institutions to his office,” Escudero said.
Escudero said the confidentiality of foreign-currency deposits could not place information already lawfully reported to the AMLC beyond the reach of the impeachment court.
Escudero further cited the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, where then-Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales was allowed to testify on information from an AMLC report involving foreign-currency bank accounts attributed to Corona.
“The Court hereby denies the rules against — rather the objection and the manifestation, as well, of counsel," he said.
The ruling allowed Buenaventura to proceed with his testimony on AMLC records involving Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.
Escudero rejects Duterte defense bid to exclude AMLC exec as witness
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