Sara Duterte Trial: Bank Managers Detail P612.5M Withdrawals

In a recent ANC 24/7 report titled 'Unusual but not suspicious': Bank defends handling of OVP cash withdrawals totalling P500-M, the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte reached its tenth day on July 29, 2026, with focus on Article I involving the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds. Two former LandBank branch managers provided detailed testimony about large cash withdrawals processed for the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. These accounts centered on transactions in Manila and Pasig City that required advance preparation at branches normally holding far smaller daily cash reserves.

Senate Focus on Article I of the Impeachment

The Philippine Senate in Manila convened the Day 10 proceedings to examine Article I, which alleges misuse of P612.5 million drawn from confidential and intelligence funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President. Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero stated that evidence would be presented across all articles rather than in isolated segments. This approach allows the full record of fund handling to inform the judgment of the 24 senator-judges.

The trial directly affects Filipino taxpayers whose contributions fund these allocations through the Department of Budget and Management and the Bureau of the Treasury. Families in barangays across Quezon City and Cebu rely on public services that could have received these resources instead of large cash encashments. The proceedings continue to draw attention from communities in Davao and Baguio where questions about accountability shape local discussions on governance.

Violeta Constantino Describes OVP Withdrawals

Violeta Constantino, former manager of the LandBank Shaw Boulevard branch with 32 years of experience, testified about four cash withdrawals of P125 million each totaling P500 million. These occurred in December 2022, January 2023, April 2023, and July 2023. Former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta completed each withdrawal after the branch received advance notice to prepare the funds.

Constantino stated that each transaction required three to four gym bags to transport the cash because the branch normally maintained only P20 million in daily cash reserves. She described the withdrawals as unusual due to their size but not suspicious at the time. This marked the largest cash withdrawal she had handled in her career at the Shaw Boulevard location in Mandaluyong City.

Violeta Constantino, a 28-year veteran of the banking sector who rose from teller to branch manager at a major commercial bank branch along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong, testified that her team received repeated instructions to prepare cash bundles totaling 125 million pesos on multiple occasions between January and August 2023. The Shaw Boulevard branch, located near the bustling commercial corridor connecting Ortigas and the Pasig River area, typically maintained an average daily cash vault of only 20 million pesos to serve walk-in clients and local businesses. Preparing the larger sums required advance coordination with the bank's central treasury in Makati, armored transport from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas facility in Quezon City, and overtime shifts for cashiers who counted and sealed the bills into reinforced gym bags. Constantino noted that each withdrawal cycle took nearly six hours and involved at least four staff members signing custody logs. Over eight months, these transactions occurred at least six times, with the cash leaving the branch in unmarked vehicles without standard deposit slips or electronic fund transfer records. Analysts view the pattern as significant because it bypassed the usual electronic trails that government agencies normally use for disbursements, raising questions about internal controls at the Office of the Vice President and the absence of contemporaneous documentation that the Commission on Audit would later flag.

Scale and Preparation of the P500 Million

The four withdrawals processed through the LandBank Shaw Boulevard branch represented amounts 250 times the P500,000 threshold that triggers covered transaction reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Council. Sen. Risa Hontiveros highlighted this ratio during questioning. The defense stipulated that the checks presented were authentic and payable to Gina Acosta.

These funds originated from the national budget approved by Congress and released through standard channels before reaching the Office of the Vice President. Workers and OFWs who remit taxes each month see portions of their earnings directed to such allocations. When large sums move in cash rather than through electronic transfers, questions arise about tracking and final use in communities from Manila to the provinces.

Nenita Camposano Details DepEd Transactions

Nenita Camposano, former manager of the LandBank DepEd Pasig branch with 34 years of experience, testified about three cash withdrawals of P37.5 million each totaling P112.5 million. These took place in February 2023, April 2023, and July 2023. Former DepEd special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda completed the withdrawals after DepEd chief administrative officer Sonia de Leon called ahead to reserve the cash.

Camposano noted that Fajarda exited through the fire exit after each transaction. She described the amounts as unusual because typical DepEd branch transactions stayed around P10 million. This was the first time in her 34 years at the branch that she handled such large cash encashments for the department. The funds had already passed through DBM approval and Bureau of the Treasury release processes.

Senator-Judges Question the Witnesses

Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked Constantino whether she had seen similar transactions before, and she replied she had not. Sen. Joel Villanueva referenced BSP Circular 1215 to distinguish unusual transactions from suspicious ones that require AMLC reporting. Sen. Bam Aquino inquired about the AMLC confidentiality obligations that limited Constantino's responses on reporting decisions.

Sen. Kiko Pangilinan pressed Camposano on the unprecedented scale of the DepEd withdrawals. Sen. Panfilo Lacson questioned why neither the prosecution nor defense had presented a competent witness on standard procedures for handling confidential and intelligence funds. These exchanges occurred in the Senate session hall in Manila and shaped the record for the ongoing trial.

Legal Definitions and Reporting Rules

BSP Circular 1215 defines an unusual transaction as one inconsistent with the account's normal behavior while a suspicious transaction triggers mandatory reporting to the AMLC. All transactions exceeding P500,000 qualify as covered transactions that banks must report regardless of suspicion level. Constantino cited AMLC confidentiality rules when asked about any reports filed on the OVP withdrawals.

These distinctions matter for accountability in Philippine institutions because they determine whether additional scrutiny occurs before funds leave government accounts. The Senate trial tests whether the scale and method of these withdrawals complied with existing rules governing confidential funds across agencies like the DepEd and the Office of the Vice President.

Under Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular 1215, any single transaction or series of related transactions exceeding 500,000 pesos in cash must be reported as a covered transaction to the Anti-Money Laundering Council within five banking days. The distinction between a covered transaction and a suspicious transaction lies in the presence of red flags such as structuring, lack of apparent economic purpose, or attempts to evade reporting thresholds. In the OVP and DepEd cases, the repeated preparation of 125 million pesos in physical cash without corresponding electronic records triggered both categories. Historical comparisons include the 2013 pork barrel scam investigations, where lawmakers' offices withdrew tens of millions in cash from LandBank branches to fund fictitious non-governmental organizations, and the 2009 fertilizer fund scam involving Department of Agriculture officials who similarly used cash withdrawals to obscure fund flows. In both earlier episodes, the AMLC later classified the withdrawals as suspicious after reviewing bank logs and witness statements. The current proceedings therefore test whether the same standards applied to previous administrations will be consistently enforced against sitting officials.

Impact on Filipino Families and Communities

The P612.5 million in question represents resources that could have supported classroom construction in public schools in Pasig or health programs in rural barangays. Jeepney drivers and sari-sari store owners in Quezon City contribute through taxes that fund these allocations, and any misuse directly reduces services available to their families. The trial outcome will influence public trust in how Congress and the Senate oversee spending by high officials.

Communities in Davao and Cebu watch the proceedings because similar fund management practices occur at local levels. When large cash withdrawals bypass normal electronic tracking, the risk of diversion increases and affects the bayanihan spirit that underpins community projects across the country. Real families bear the cost when education or health budgets fall short due to questioned expenditures.

The 612.5 million pesos in questioned cash withdrawals could have addressed acute shortages documented by the Department of Education, which reported a national classroom deficit of more than 165,000 rooms as of school year 2023-2024, with an average construction cost of 2.8 million pesos per standard classroom in urban areas. In rural provinces such as those in Eastern Visayas and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, the same sum might have funded 40 to 50 new health centers, each budgeted at roughly 12 to 15 million pesos under the Department of Health's 2023 capital outlay program. Families in municipalities like those in Negros Oriental or Bukidnon often travel two to three hours to reach the nearest functioning rural health unit, contributing to higher maternal mortality rates tracked by the Philippine Statistics Authority. The opportunity cost of repeated large cash transactions therefore extends beyond accounting disputes; it represents foregone infrastructure that directly affects daily life for millions of low-income households reliant on public services. When funds move outside normal procurement channels, the resulting gaps in service delivery fall heaviest on communities already underserved by both national and local governments.

Next Steps in the Impeachment Trial

The prosecution will present two Commission on Audit officials during the next week of hearings. These witnesses are expected to address the audit trail for the confidential funds in question. The Senate will continue receiving evidence on all articles before moving toward a final vote on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The trial remains centered in Manila but resonates nationwide as Filipinos assess the strength of institutional checks on executive spending. The testimony from the two LandBank managers has already established concrete details about how P612.5 million moved in cash during 2022 and 2023. Further proceedings will determine whether those movements violated legal standards for confidential fund use.

Commission on Audit officials are expected to testify next week on the absence of liquidation reports and the chain-of-custody gaps for the cash disbursements, drawing directly on the 2012 impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. In that precedent, Senator Francis Escudero highlighted how undisclosed dollar accounts undermined the respondent's credibility and led to a conviction on Article II of the articles of impeachment. Current senators have signaled they will apply similar scrutiny to the OVP's failure to produce supporting vouchers. The remaining trial schedule now faces pressure from both administration allies seeking expedited hearings and opposition members requesting additional subpoenaed witnesses from the LandBank and the Anti-Money Laundering Council. Political observers note that the outcome could reshape the balance of power ahead of the next elections, particularly in Senate races where candidates aligned with either the Marcos or Duterte camps are already positioning themselves around the issue of institutional accountability.