Senators, witnesses weigh in on VP Duterte’s ‘unusual’ bank transactions

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MANILA, Philippines— The alleged unusual huge cash withdrawals made by offices headed by Vice President Sara Duterte triggered discussions over whether they constituted covered or suspicious transactions that should have been reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

At Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday, two prosecution witnesses— Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano—described as “unusual” the cash withdrawals by the Office of the President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) totaling to P612.5 million from 2022 to 2023.

As department manager of Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) Shaw Boulevard branch, Constantino oversaw the OVP’s withdrawals of a total of P500 million cash between December 2022 and July 2023.

Camposano was also the manager of LandBank’s DepEd branch when the agency then headed by Duterte encashed three checks each amounting P37.5 million or for a total of P112.5 million.