Senators question Davao City accountant on ties to firms linked to VP Sara Duterte

Davao City accountant Vingelin Bajan faced pointed questions from senator-judges on Tuesday, November 10, over her past role as a partner in an accounting firm that audited companies linked to Vice President Sara Duterte, according to The Philippine Star.

Bajan was presented by the defense on Day 41 of the Vice President's impeachment trial. She testified on a P64,194.72 salary differential arising from Duterte's 2020 and 2021 pay increases as Davao City mayor, which was released to her in 2023, when she was already Vice President.

On cross-examination, the prosecution brought out that Bajan had been a partner in Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano, and Co. CPAs while she was a city hall employee. Prosecutors raised the link to question her credibility. The firm served as external auditor for GenCorp Industries Inc., Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Town Times Square B, City Hall King Chow Foods Corp. and Great Jolly Times Food Corp., which have been linked to Duterte, the report said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan noted that Bajan became a regular employee of the Davao City Accounting Office in 2004 while still a partner. She left the firm in 2015 and was appointed city accountant in 2017 by Duterte, then the mayor.

Several senator-judges were frustrated when Bajan initially said she could not recall signing the partnership's papers. "My patience is wearing thin," presiding officer Francis Escudero said. Sen. Raffy Tulfo warned she could be cited in contempt, while Sen. Bam Aquino said the court was not implying she had committed a crime but urged her to answer directly. Bajan became emotional, telling the court she had worked hard as a city hall employee. Sen. Imee Marcos argued that she was being asked about issues unrelated to her testimony.

The prosecution also flagged what private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa Jr. called discrepancies in defense evidence on Duterte's properties. Island Garden City of Samal assessor John Kenneth Enumerables confirmed that a deed of sale for a property in Barangay San Isidro, Kaputian, registered under Duterte's husband Manases Carpio, showed a price of P3.4 million executed in 2018, while her 2025 SALN listed a P4-million acquisition cost in 2013 under Barangay Matanos. "This property also, there are glaring discrepancies," Tolosa said.

A similar dispute surrounds a property in Matina Crossing, Davao City, which the defense says was declared under a different location description. The prosecution alleges Duterte accumulated at least P817.87 million in undeclared assets and unexplained wealth from 2022 to 2025; the defense disputes the claims.