A DAVAO-based lawyer filed criminal complaints over the alleged unauthorized release of his financial records in the House committee on justice as part of the impeachment proceedings against his wife, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Atty. Manases Carpio arrived at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday to lodge the complaint against Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr., Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) executive director Ronel Buenaventura, and several members of the House of Representatives.
The complaint alleges violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), Bank Secrecy laws, and the Data Privacy Act.
The legal move stems from recent House Committee proceedings where lawmakers scrutinized an alleged ₱6.77 billion in transactions that reportedly passed through the bank accounts of Carpio and the vice president.
‘A distraction from the issue’
In response, House committee on public accounts chair Terry Ridon dismissed the lawsuit as a move to shift public attention.
“The complaint is a distraction from the main issue in the impeachment proceedings,” Ridon said in a national media interview. “The central concern is the alleged unexplained wealth, not the process of how the financial data was obtained.”
Ridon pointed out that the figures cited—which include ₱4.43 billion in incoming funds, ₱1.55 billion in outgoing funds, and ₱791.1 million in undetermined transactions—are based on official AMLC records.
He noted that the complaint focuses on the source of the information rather than denying the existence of the transactions themselves.
BSP stands firm
Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) defended its actions and those of the AMLC, maintaining that both agencies operated within their legal mandates.
In a statement, the BSP clarified that Governor Remolona has yet to receive a formal copy of the complaint. However, the central bank assured the public that it followed proper procedures during the congressional inquiry and will issue a formal response once the documents are reviewed in the proper forum.
The controversy continues to intensify as the House Committee on Justice moves forward with its investigation, while the Carpio camp maintains that the “weaponization” of private financial data is a gross violation of the law.
