Financial forensic analyst Atty. Alexander “Alex” Cabrera said Monday that one does not need to be a government employee to understand a Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), as he defended his findings on the alleged unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio.

Cabrera made the remark during the 38th day of Duterte’s impeachment trial in response to questions from Sen. Joel Villanueva, a senator-judge, about his forensic report and whether he had documents showing that money from the corporations he examined went into the couple’s personal income.

“Hindi po ako kailangan pumasok po ng gobyerno para maintindihan po yung SALN,” Cabrera said.

Asked whether he had reviewed documents showing that corporate funds from businesses such as Cale88 or GenCorp Metro City flowed into the couple’s personal bank accounts, Cabrera said he could not confirm whether the money had reached their individual accounts.

He said the corporations had numerous cash outflows, but the available information did not establish the sources of all incoming funds or how outgoing money was used or where it was deposited.

“Marami pong outflow yung corporation. At ang problema po, hanggang dito lang po yung nakikita natin.”

Cabrera said a more comprehensive forensic investigation would be needed to trace those transactions, particularly if the objective were to build a criminal case.

He stressed that his engagement with the Senate was limited to determining whether the couple’s wealth was manifestly disproportionate to their income and whether their business interests were properly reflected in their SALN.

Cabrera described the SALN as a simple balance sheet compared with the more complicated financial statements he regularly examines, reiterating that understanding the document does not require prior government employment or having filed one himself.

“Ang SALN po ang pinakasimple na balance sheet po na nakita ko at napaka-awkward po ng SALN.”

Villanueva also questioned whether Cabrera’s report double-counted Duterte’s personal income from 2023 to 2025, noting that the figures appeared to have been added again based on a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) report.

_{Forensic Analysis of Duterte-Carpio taxable income. Screenshot from Senate of the Philippines/Youtube}

Cabrera said the effect of the schedule in question was that his report understated the figures by about 14 million pesos.

He explained that his team may have counted both compensation and compensation combined with business income, potentially resulting in a duplication. However, he said he decided to retain the figures after determining that the adjustment would not harm Duterte’s position.

“Parang naninimbang yung mga kasama namin na baka naman nakakatanggap din siya [Duterte] ng compensation pero noong ina-analyze ko, hindi naman ito makakasama, makakabuti naman ito sa kanila, so idagdag na lang natin. So, yung figure namin ay hindi nakakasama kay VP Sara.”

Cabrera said the figures had been treated conservatively in Duterte’s favor, adding that a more exhaustive forensic investigation could uncover additional properties that had not been declared.

He maintained, however, that the adjustments did not undermine his conclusion that there were undeclared assets and properties manifestly disproportionate to Duterte’s income.