Conflicting barangay names in Duterte husband’s Samal lot cause confusion in impeach trial

MANILA — Several senator-judges on Tuesday questioned the name of the barangay where a property owned by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, is located, after discrepancies emerged in documents identifying the lot’s location.

The property in question is located in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCOS). The prosecution alleges that Duterte failed to declare the lot in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, an allegation forming part of the unexplained wealth accusations raised against the vice president in the impeachment trial.

Engineer John Kenneth Enumerables, city assessor, initially told the Senate impeachment court that the 751-square-meter property matched a lot declared in the vice president’s SALN.

“Based on the market value and assessed value, Your Honor, Yes, Your Honor. Magkatugma po sila (They match),” Enumerables told presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero.

Escudero asked whether there were other bases for establishing that the property declared in the SALN was the same lot identified in the documents presented by Enumerables, including transfer certificates of title (TCTs), property identification records and maps, real property field appraisal and assessment sheets and tax declarations.

“Wala po, Your Honor, kasi hindi po nakalagay ‘yong title number,” Enumerables replied, with Escudero noting that the SALN does not require the declaration of a property’s title number.

(There are none because the title number is not indicated.)

However, several senator-judges expressed confusion over the discrepancies in the name of the barangay where the lot is located.

The field appraisal report and deed of sale identifies the property as being in Barangay San Isidro (Kaputian), while the TCTs and the SALN indicate Barangay Matanos as its location.

“Ngayon, pati ako nalilito na,” Escudero said before posing a question over the conflicting barangay names cited in the documents.

(Now, even I am confused.)

Enumerables maintained that the barangay’s official name is San Isidro, while Kaputian refers to a district. He said he was unfamiliar with Matanos and that no barangay by that name exists in Samal.

Escudero found that “Matanos” is part of Barangay San Remigio, while Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson found that it falls under Barangay Pangubatan.

The presiding officer later cited the testimony of a previous witness, city deputy register of deeds Marco Pineda, who explained that “Barangay Matanos” was carried over from a mother title.

A tax mapping will be needed to establish whether the property referred to was the same lot, Escudero said.

Enumerables said tax mapping records identify the property as being in Barangay San Isidro.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo reminded the witness of his obligation to exercise “due diligence” as a government official when confronted with discrepancies in official documents.

But prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa maintained that the properties were not one and the same, pointing to discrepancies in their dates of acquisition, acquisition costs, and purchase prices.

During cross examination, Tolosa presented a deed of absolute sale that was executed in 2018, five years later than the 2013 acquisition date declared in Duterte’s SALN.

The deed of absolute sale also listed the purchase price at P3,453,849, while Duterte’s SALN declared an acquisition cost of P4,041,000 for the Samal property.

“What you’re saying is that you saw that in that SALN, there’s a property with the similar fair market value and zonal value as that indicated in the tax declarations that you’ve mentioned… but you’re not claiming that the same property indicated in that TCT is the very same property contained in that SALN, correct?” Tolosa asked.

“I’m not certain, sir,” Enumerables responded.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian later raised the possibility that additional expenses, such as transfer fees and capital gains tax, could account for the difference between the purchase price and the declared acquisition cost.

Escudero, meanwhile, asked whether Duterte had “overdeclared” the property’s acquisition cost in her SALN or simply declared the actual amount she paid for it.

Defense lawyer Lindon Bacquel said their position is that the acquisition cost should include not only the purchase price but also related taxes and other expenses.

Escudero, however, said Duterte’s declared acquisition cost remained high based on his own computation.