AMLC says Sara Duterte got P14.8M from Samuel Uy, tagged ‘drug lord’ by critics

MANILA, Philippines – An Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report presented during the impeachment hearing against Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, April 22, confirmed that she was the beneficiary of check transactions made by alleged drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy and his associates.

The council received reports from the banks about two check transactions from Uy and his associates to Duterte in October 2011 to April 2012, totaling P14.8 million. Bicol Saro Representative Terry Ridon released the AMLC report to the media.

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According to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Uy is a known business partner of Michael Yang, former president Duterte’s economic adviser who has been embroiled in the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation and Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) scandals.

Uy was also among the top campaign donors of the Duterte patriarch’s 2016 presidential run.

During the hearing, Trillanes repeatedly referred to Uy as a “drug lord.” A few years back, former Davao Death Squad insider Arturo Lascañas also alleged that the elder Duterte, when he was Davao City mayor, was “in partnership with Michael Yang and Sammy Uy” in the drug trade.

Trillanes, who also testified before the committee on Wednesday, reiterated his allegation that members of the Duterte family received nearly P200 million in payouts from Uy.

Trillanes’ testimony breaks down the P181.6 million in payments that Uy allegedly made via cashier’s and personal checks to various members of the Duterte family from 2011 to 2013:

• Vice President Sara Duterte: P22.32 million across three transactions
• Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte: P51.58 million across five transactions
• Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte: P38.81 million across four transactions
• Honeylet Avanceña and Kitty Duterte: P53.28 million across five transaction
• Former president Rodrigo Duterte: P15.66 million across three transactions

During Wednesday’s hearing, AMLC also confirmed that a total of P6.77 billion in large and suspicious transactions flowed through the bank accounts of Sara Duterte and her husband, Mans Carpio, from 2006 to 2025.

AMLC said these include P230.87 million in transactions from 2019 to 2024, years when she did not declare cash and cash deposits in her SALNs.

Based only on her SALNs, Duterte’s net worth peaked at P88 million in 2024. When she entered politics in 2007, her net worth was P7.25 million.

“In my view, all of these constitute the ‘impeachable offenses’ of betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes as stated in the Constitution,” Trillanes said of Duterte’s supposed failure to declare her actual wealth in her SALN.

The Vice President said last year she was willing to answer questions about her bank accounts in an impeachment trial.

“As of now, the information with regard to the bank accounts were obtained illegally and I have no obligation to answer them,” Duterte said in July 2025. – Rappler.com