October 1, 2026

Atty. Cathy Florence M. Baldonado, Register of Deeds of Davao City, produced certified copies of Davao TCT No. 146-2024-010775, its sale deed, tax clearance and transfer-tax records, land and building tax declarations, electronic registration certificate and canceled predecessor title. She described the security features of certified copies. The court ordered copies furnished to both sides and later marking as Exhibit P-II-4-1 and series.

Baldonado described an active title for 379 square meters in Matina, Davao City, registered to Manases Carpio, married to Sara Duterte. Supporting records placed it in Huna Subdivision, Matina Crossing, Talomo. She read a P6 million sale consideration and clarified the deed date as July 2, 2024. She also read an August 27, 2024 mortgage annotation executed by Carpio and Duterte in favor of Philippine Savings Bank for P8 million.

On cross-examination Baldonado read newer tax declarations bearing the same title number: P1,864,680 land market value, P6,992,847.80 building market value and P82,046 land assessed value. She read a 2024 SALN spouse entry for Barangay 74-A with P10 million acquisition cost and P82,046 assessed value, but declined to confirm the proposed property match. On redirect she acknowledged the documented P6 million deed consideration and P10 million SALN acquisition cost. She said the registry did not hold SALNs and she lacked personal knowledge of their completeness.

The chair allowed Baldonado to read newer tax declarations while distinguishing their contents from their accuracy or truth. Defense counsel Bacquel argued that the property matched the SALN spouse entry; the comparison remained contested, and the chair sought the Davao assessor tax map before deciding the Matina Crossing/Barangay 74-A judicial-notice request.

Answering Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Baldonado explained that the title carried the older, broader Matina description; the supporting tax declaration, clearance and electronic registration certificate supplied Huna Subdivision, Matina Crossing, Talomo. She said the registry received documents rather than determining the actual location. Answering Sen. Erwin Tulfo, she said a sale could precede registration, SALN reporting requirements were outside her competence, and she did not know the spouses' total property holdings.

Answering Sen. Joel Villanueva, Baldonado said the registry copied the deed wording without assuming the spouses' property regime. Vendor Cynthia Basilio Madelo and Manases Carpio signed the sale deed; Sara Duterte did not. The registry records did not identify who supplied the purchase money or trace its source or movement, including through a mortgage instrument.

Baldonado completed direct examination, cross-examination, redirect, recross and senator questions. The chair excused her after the interjections.

Atty. Marco K. Pineda, Deputy Register of Deeds III designated Acting Register of Deeds of Island Garden City of Samal and concurrently Assisting Register of Deeds of Davao City, explained the registry's ministerial custody and registration functions. The defense stipulated to certified copies and to the Samal title's 751-square-meter area, Matanos location and wording naming Carpio, married to Duterte. It stipulated to the annotated P3,453,849 price; Pineda read March 15, 2018 as the deed date and said TCT No. 142-2019-013134 remained active. The court ordered later marking as Exhibit P-II-4-2 and series.

Pineda said the SALN entries shown on direct did not perfectly match the deed and limited his answers to reading the documents. On cross he read San Isidro, Kaputian District, in the deed and Matanos in the title issued March 28, 2019. He read a San Isidro spouse entry in the 2018 SALN and a Matanos entry in 2019, each recording 2013 acquisition and P4,041,000 cost. He declined to identify the property from a quick visual comparison.

Pineda read matching P346,960 assessed values in a tax declaration bearing the same title number and the 2024 SALN Matanos spouse entry. The chair qualified the comparison as matching document contents while property identity remained open. On redirect Pineda read 2013 and P4,041,000 in the SALN against March 15, 2018 and P3,453,849 in the deed. He explained that derivative titles inherit older cadastral descriptions; the current tax declaration placed the land in San Isidro, Kaputian District, and he referred to recent assessor mapping to locate it.

Defense counsel Bacquel argued that the Samal property was declared in the SALNs and explored contracts to sell, later title transfer and additional transfer taxes. Prosecution emphasized differing acquisition years and costs. The chair retained the qualification that matching assessed values did not yet establish the same property.

Answering Sen. Erwin Tulfo, Pineda said the registry had no paper trail tracing the purchase funds and he had no personal knowledge of the spouses' marital property regime. He acknowledged that a broad geographic description could yield no matching record in a title lookup, but expressed reservations about opining on SALN requirements because SALNs were outside his office's mandate.

Answering Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Pineda distinguished Matanos from San Isidro but explained that titles carry forward mother-title cadastral descriptions; recent assessor mapping and the tax declaration placed this property in San Isidro, Kaputian District. He described rising land prices only as personal opinion, outside the assessor's mandate, and said he had not visited Kembali Coast. The chair noted that the lawyers' later statements about values were their manifestations rather than witness testimony.

Pineda lacked personal knowledge of SALN completeness. Asked by the chair whether the differing acquisition and deed years could reflect an installment sale, he also lacked personal knowledge of that transaction. He explained that a contract to sell could be annotated without transferring title, while a deed of sale could support transfer. He agreed with the chair that matching general SALN descriptions to title technical descriptions was not simple.

Pineda completed direct examination, cross-examination, redirect, recross and senator questions. The chair excused him after the interjections.