WATCH: Henry Omaga-Diaz’s 2017 report on Duterte family’s bank deposits

The name of former Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang came up several times during Wednesday’s Quadcom hearing on the drug war killings.

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV brought up Carandang’s name as he revived his accusations that the Duterte family may have received billions of pesos in questionable bank deposits during Rodrigo Duterte’s time as mayor of Davao City. Trillanes said Carandang had reviewed and confirmed the said financial record before he was dismissed by Malacañang in 2018.

Viewers may recall that former ABS-CBN anchor Henry Omaga-Diaz covered this issue in 2017 and managed to get an exclusive interview with Carandang, which aired on TV Patrol and other ABS-CBN News broadcasts. In it, Carandang confirmed that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) had provided the Ombudsman with records of the Duterte family’s bank transactions.

Carandang said at the time that it was difficult to determine the exact amount of deposits because of the long period covered by the records. However, he suggested the total might reach billions of pesos, which matched Trillanes’ claims.

Part of Omaga-Diaz’s report read: “Ayon pa sa Deputy Ombudsman, base sa naturang records na nakalap ng AMLC, may daan-daang milyong pisong halaga ng mga transaksyon sina Pangulong Duterte at kanyang mga anak sa iba’t ibang bangko mula 2006 hanggang 2016. Pero nilinaw ni Carandang na labas-pasok ang transaksyon sa mga account na ito sa loob ng mahabang panahon kaya mahirap din matukoy kung magkano talaga ang total deposits.”

Carandang was quoted as saying: “‘Yung billions kasi baka in-add na nila itong lahat ng transaction kasi 20 million, 20 million, 20 million, 16 million. Pag in-add mo siguro ‘yan, aabot ng billion. Ang dami… 40 million, 40 million, several 40 million, 200 million kaagad ito. ‘Yung iba 50 million, ang dami.”

Watch the report below: