Duterte husband’s P200,000 card charge covered Japan dinner with friends: witness

MANILA (UPDATE) — A witness testified before the Senate impeachment court on Thursday that a P205,007.29 credit card charge made by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, at a Tokyo restaurant covered a dinner with friends who later reimbursed him.

The transaction at Ginza Inakaya was among Carpio’s credit card expenses previously highlighted by forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera during the impeachment trial of Duterte.

Lawyer Anel Martin Antero, who testified before the court, said he was among 11 people, including Carpio, who went on a leisure trip to Japan in 2023.

The group dined at the restaurant, where the bill totaled a little over P200,000, which Carpio paid using his credit card because some of the other participants had run out of cash, Antero said, adding that they split the bill and paid back the amount they each owed to Duterte’s husband.

“Natatandaan ko quite vividly ‘yong bill namin kasi sa totoo lang, nagulat ako, kami in general, dahil hindi namin akalain ganoon kamahal yung babayaran naming,” Antero said.

“Nag-ambag-ambag po kami it just so happened yung credit card ni Atty. Mans ‘yong nagamit sa pagbayad,” he added.

Carpio previously said the credit card transactions raised in the trial were personal expenditures paid using his own funds and should not be associated with the Vice President or her official duties.

But Antero could not provide photographs of the dinner or proof that he had repaid Carpio when asked by prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan during cross-examination.

Ligutan also questioned Antero about his travel history, asking whether he typically brought cash and credit cards when traveling. Antero confirmed that he did, prompting the prosecutor to ask how he had suddenly found himself without cash or a credit card during the dinner in Tokyo.

Antero clarified that he had a credit card with him, but the other participants in the dinner did not have cash. This led to the decision for Carpio to settle the bill using his credit card.

Defense lawyer Miguel Bacquel later asked Antero whether he would lie for Carpio or Duterte. “I took an oath as a witness and as a lawyer, hindi po ako magsisinungaling,” he answered.

Duterte is facing impeachment complaints over allegations of unexplained wealth, incomplete asset disclosures and failure to divest from business interests while serving as vice president.