A senator examined complex banking matters with the goal of providing the public with answers to the ordinary Filipino’s real questions on how billions of pesos in unexplained wealth could have been hidden.
From October 6 until October 12, 2026, Senator-Judge Bam Aquino conducted consecutive questioning of witnesses from key government agencies and financial institutions. Through his interpellation, suspicious banking practices, undocumented inward remittances from abroad, and crucial details regarding undeclared assets were uncovered.
On Monday, during his questioning of prosecution witness Atty. Alex Cabrera regarding Table 39 of the report, Aquino clarified which figures were supported by solid evidence and which were based merely on estimates.
The examination revealed a breakdown of the total amount: P606 Million is backed by evidence directly obtained from bank records, insurance investments, real estate properties, and SEC ownership documents.
Meanwhile, P211 Million is based on an estimate or assumption derived from a presumed 20% ownership stake in GENCorp, based on the Vice President’s sworn SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth) and past business connections.
Aquino emphasized during the hearing that the court must proceed step-by-step, based strictly on evidence and exclude uncertain funds, such as confidential funds, for the time being. He noted that while the P211 million may still change once the exact inventory of company ownership is established, the P606 million is already tied to an official paper trail.
“So 606 is based on records—records of the bank, records of the insurance companies, records of the SEC, 606. And then the remaining 211, technically it could shrink or it could grow. Once we find out the actual ownership stake in GENCORP, could that 211 shrink or grow?,” he said.
On October 6, Aquino focused on reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs). He directly questioned prosecution witness Atty. Buenaventura to clarify the total amount of money that passed through the subpoenaed questionable bank accounts.
“What you can testify to is that billions of pesos passed through their accounts? Can you say with certainty that billions of pesos passed through the accounts subpoenaed today?… So, in a way, we have pieces of the puzzle, and now someone will tell us what the account holds… Money goes in and out, right? … You cannot state how much is in the account at any given time, but you know that money flows in and out, and the total reaches billions?,” he added.
He also underscored the mandate of institutions like the AMLC, stating that the agency’s duty to fight money laundering continues uninterrupted, with or without an impeachment trial.
“Just for my understanding, for this year, have you filed any cases against anybody this year? … You have, so it’s continuous—even without an impeachment case, the work of the AMLC continues,” he said.
On October 7, Aquino questioned representatives from Security Bank regarding foreign inward remittances logged as having “no economic justification” or lacking adequate underlying transaction details.
When the bank explained that foreign funds are strictly prohibited from entering without clear supporting documents such as contracts or deeds of sale, Aquino quickly highlighted the glaring contradiction in the evidence.
“In this case, it states ‘no economic justification,’ meaning there are no documents. So how did the money enter if there were no documents? So what you are saying is that money cannot enter without documents, but coming from the witnesses the other day and with your testimony today, it seems there are no documents. How did that happen?,” he said.
The senator also raised the possibility of manager’s checks being used to temporarily withdraw funds from accounts prior to year-end financial reporting, only to be deposited back months later. BPI Division Head Marwin Galvez admitted that such a practice is “nothing new” in the banking industry.
On October 9, Aquino clarified the complex figures in the Vice President’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). During his questioning of Atty. Alex Cabrera, he broken down whether annual estimates (including P190M in 2022 and P167M in 2023) represented rolling/cumulative balances or separate, individual undeclared amounts.
“Is it also a fair statement to say that it does not mean her net worth is 817 [million]? That’s not the case either, right? … Because it’s rolling, isn’t it? Meaning that money could possibly still be there in the following year. So we look at the 2025 undeclared and the declared [amounts]. Is that correct, Attorney Alex? Just so it’s clear to all of us,” he said.
Through these clarifications, it became better understood that the evidence relies on combining non-cumulative undeclared funds with the officially declared net worth for the year 2025. This corrected public information to ensure that only truthful and verified data reaches both the public and the impeachment court in pursuit of public accountability.
