22/04/2026
OPINION
What we witnessed today at the House Committee on Justice was not a hearing. It was a political lynching; a shameless fishing expedition masqueraded as “due process.” The Committee members, many of whom lack any credibility or moral ascendancy to investigate matters of unexplained wealth, brazenly perverted this solemn constitutional process into a cringe-worthy witch hunt, at the taxpayers’ expense.
We saw the Justice Renato Corona playbook all over again — the exact same formula of selective SALN harassment, twisting of financial records, and malicious media amplification. The deliberate mischaracterization and weaponization of Covered Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) were particularly vile. The AMLC paraded raw, decontextualized inflows and outflows to suggest billions in “unexplained wealth.”
Consider a single legitimate Php 2 million time deposit with 6 months maturity. Based on AMLC’s math, the total transaction amount will be Php 8 million excluding interest: Php 2 million outflow from main account; Php 2 million inflow to time deposit account; upon maturity, Php 2 million outflow from time deposit account; and Php 2 million inflow to main account. Investing the same Php 2 million again in another time deposit for a fresh 6 months, balloons the total transaction amount to Php 16 million. Two (2) more 6-month deposits brings the total to Php 32 million for the same Php 2 million investment.
This is not evidence, it is malicious deception, the classic trick of presenting half-truths to create an illusion of guilt.
And who did the Committee trot out as their star witness? Antonio Trillanes IV — a man who’s been thoroughly rejected by the voting public due to his endless lies and vendetta against the Dutertes. His testimony was nothing but double hearsay. The AMLC’s “confirmation” of portions of his testimony does not vindicate him, it only proves he obtained his information through illegal means.
The Vice President does not need to dignify this kangaroo court with her presence. The Filipino people are no fools. They see this clearly for what it is: a desperate and coordinated plot by scoundrels in government to abuse the powers of the lowest House because they cannot beat VP Sara fair and square, whether in legitimate impeachment proceedings, or at the ballot box.
