The critical factor in this impeachment is not the monetary amount involved, but on proving that the funds have been legally sourced, are transparently traceable, and were factually recorded in public documents
The AMLC reports do not prove corruption. The SALNs do not prove concealment. The BIR records do not yet prove tax violations. But together they pose a financial question that no impeachment court can simply overlook.
The temptation is to treat the P6.77-billion figure linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, as the smoking gun of the impeachment trial.
That would be a mistake.
The figure does not mean the couple accumulated P6.77 billion, nor does it establish money laundering or unexplained wealth. It represents the cumulative value of transactions reported by financial institutions over nearly two decades, and the same money can be counted repeatedly as it moves through multiple accounts.
