Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio's net income after tax from 2007 to 2025 does not match the net worth she declared in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), a private prosecutor told the impeachment court on Thursday.

The SALN is an annual disclosure that public officials and employees in the Philippines must file under Republic Act No. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Private prosecutor Erwin G. Matib highlighted the discrepancy between the combined after-tax net worth of Ms. Duterte and her husband, Manases R. Carpio — P85 million over the past 18 years — and the figures in her 2025 SALN.

"[T]heir declared net worth in the respondent's 2025 SALN is P98,656,131.20. So, here there is already a gap, there is a difference," he said. Mr. Matib argued that the couple's net income does not explain the amount indicated in her declared net worth.

Impeachment cases in the Philippines are tried by the Senate, which sits as the country's impeachment court; conviction on any article requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all senators, and judgment extends no further than removal from office and possible disqualification from holding public office. The only official convicted and removed in a completed impeachment trial under the 1987 Constitution was then-Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012, on an article centered on omissions in his SALN.

Anne Loraine C. Garcia-Marquez, chief of staff at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Office of the Commissioner, testified as a witness and affirmed that the second couple's combined net income from 2007 to 2025 totaled P85 million.

Reading from audited financial statements, she listed the cash on hand in the bank accounts of Ms. Duterte and Mr. Carpio, starting with the year the Vice-President was elected: P21.23 million in 2022, P28.97 million in 2023, P15.53 million in 2024, and P13.80 million in 2025.

Ms. Duterte's SALNs, however, indicated no declared cash on hand or cash in bank since 2019.

The BIR official also said their records showed Ms. Duterte earned income separate from compensation income — the pay an employer gives an employee. These amounted to P1.08 million in 2025 and P1.06 million in 2024.

She added that the documents do not state the source of that income, but based on Ms. Duterte's registration of "legal activities," the BIR understands this as the practice of law.

A BIR Form 2316 also showed that Ms. Duterte received compensation income from the local government of Davao City in 2023, where her brother Sebastian Z. Duterte has served as mayor since 2022; Ms. Garcia-Marquez did not disclose the amount.

Under Article VII, Section 6 of the Constitution, the Vice-President is prohibited from receiving payment from the government or any other source. A separate provision bars the country's second-highest official from practicing any other profession.

Mr. Matib, seeking to establish that the Vice-President and her husband were aware of the irregularities in their tax filings, asked the BIR official whether a taxpayer knows they are responsible for the declared income tax return and all its attachments.

Ms. Garcia-Marquez confirmed that this is the case upon signing a Statement of Management's Responsibility for Annual Income Tax Return.

"Because these are signed, they acknowledged their responsibility in all the information contained within the annual tax income return and all its attachments," she said. "So it's really from them," she added.

Reporting by Francessca S. Abalos; originally published by BusinessWorld.