House prosecutor and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon
MANILA, Philippines — Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon has asked whether Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio considers himself an oligarch, as the reason that he gave for huge sports apparel purchases—supporting basketball teams—is often reserved for big business players.
Ridon, in an interview on the sidelines of Duterte’s impeachment trial, maintained that the reasons given by Carpio do not suffice as explanations for the huge credit card expenses he supposedly made in 2025.
Part of the testimony from prosecution witness and financial forensic analyst Atty. Alexander Cabrera regarding Duterte’s unexplained wealth was “unusual banking behavior” that included two transactions on Dec. 27, 2025 with the Nike store at a Davao City mall worth P93,750 and P205,392; and another Nike store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, amounting to P256,882.50.
“Ano’ng sabi, sports supporter ho siya? And again, it goes back also to who are actually sports supporters, patrons in the Philippines? Particularly for UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) teams, hindi ho ba? ‘Di ba ‘yong mga oligarko?” Ridon, a public prosecutor, asked.
(What did they say, that he’s a sports supporter? And again, it goes back also to who are actually sports supporters, patrons in the Philippines? Particularly for UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) teams, right? Isn’t it the oligarchs?)
“’Di ba yan ‘yong mga malalaking mga tao? So, ‘yon ba ‘yong sinasabi, ka-level na po ni Atty. Mans Carpio ‘yon pong malalaking mga negosyante? So I think marami hong tanong kung ‘yon ang kanilang paliwanag, mas maraming tanong ang kailangang sagutin,” he added.
(Isn’t it the people in high places? So, is that what they are trying to say, that Atty. Mans Carpio is on the level of big-time businesspeople? So I think there are questions that have to be answered, more questions that should be addressed after their explanation.)
Also, Ridon said that the dinner in Ginza Inakaya in Tokyo, Japan, worth P200,007.29 would still be ostentatious even if it was for a large group, as he believes such a figure is enough to feed two barangays.
“’Yong gano’n kadaling pagkaskas ng P200,000 per transaction, P200,000 diner no’n pong kanyang asawa speaks volumes about ‘yon pong level of wealth na meron po sila. Hindi ho kaya ng ordinaryong Pilipino ‘yon pong kumain sa labas ng P200,000 para po sa isang gabi,” he claimed.
(The way they found it easy to swipe their card with P200,000 per transaction, P200,000 diner of the vice president’s husband, speaks volumes about the level of wealth that they have. Ordinary Filipinos do not have the ability to spend P200,000 in one night.)
“Do’n sa pagkain, sabihin mo nang large group ‘yon, alam niyo, kahit magkainan tayo lahat dito ng pagkain, one dinner, hindi po aabot ng P200,000 ‘yon eh kung hindi ostentatious ‘yon pong pagkain na ‘yon. Ibig sabihin, kaya kong magpakain ng isang buong barangay; hindi mo aabot ng P200,000. So ’wag ho tayong magbola-bola ng taumbayan,” he added.
(With the food issue, even if you say that it’s a large group, you know even if all of us eat here, one dinner, that would not reach P200,000 if the meals are not ostentatious. This means I can feed an entire barangay and it would not reach P200,000. So please do not fool the people.)
After Cabrera’s presentation last Friday, Carpio came out with a statement insisting that the purchases flagged during the impeachment trial were paid for with his personal funds and should not be attributed to public funds.
As such, Carpio said there is nothing illegal with what he did, adding that Duterte had nothing to do with it.
“There is nothing illegal about spending my own hard-earned money. No public funds were used for these personal expenses,” Carpio said in a statement.
“Vice President Sara Duterte had nothing to do with these expenditures and was not present when they were incurred,” he added.
Carpio said he used his credit card to pay for expenses during a trip to Japan with a large group “since many of us did not have cash on hand at the time,” adding that “we shared the cost among ourselves.”
He added that the Nike purchases in Davao City were also a “shared expense” intended for senior basketball players. The transactions at the Nike outlet in Malaysia, meanwhile, were for junior basketball players who won a championship game in that country, he said.
On Monday, the impeachment court wrapped up discussions on Article II as the defense finished their cross-examination of Cabrera — the prosecution’s final witness.
Cabrera has made several grave accusations in his report of Duterte’s financial transactions, like claims that the vice president failed to declare P817,874,867 in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).
However, Cabrera said the P817.8 billion not declared in Duterte’s SALN was a conservative amount, because the vice president’s unexplained wealth could reach P1.5 billion, if he includes P475 million in confidential funds and adopted less conservative assessments of questioned transactions.
Cabrera, the prosecution’s expert witness for the impeachment trial, said the additional amounts could include P100 million in questioned Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) transactions and P250 million involving Gencorp Industries Inc.
“Almost double … P1.5 billion. That will be unexplained wealth,” Cabrera said when asked how high the estimate could go without the analyst’s conservative approach.
Prior to that, Cabrera also said that accounts linked to Duterte had “unusual banking behavior.” Aside from the transactions mentioned above, there were other entries in his Table 25 showing proof of shopping at two discount store chains in Japan.
Two transactions referred to a Don Quijote in Shibuya, one of the main business and entertainment hotspots in Tokyo—with one worth P62,900.95 and the other being P65,877.64.
Both transactions occurred on Dec. 8, 2025.
The other Don Quijote outlet that Duterte transacted with is in Aichi prefecture, specifically in Naka-ward. The transaction on July 20, 2025 was worth P111,109.24