THE Senate impeachment court on Thursday received the subpoenaed bank, tax and anti-money laundering records of Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio and her husband after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. authorized the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to release their income tax records.
The Office of Senate Secretary Renato N. Bantug, Jr. said it had received all documents subpoenaed from the BIR, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), BDO Unibank, Inc., Philippine Savings Bank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Land Bank of the Philippines and Security Bank Corp.
“The Office of the Clerk of Court is currently undertaking a meticulous and highly secure inventory of all received documents,” Senate impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said in a statement.
“Given the sheer volume and the extensive historical scope of the subpoenaed financial and corporate records, the inventory is an active and ongoing process,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro confirmed that Mr. Marcos had approved the release of the tax records after the Senate impeachment court subpoenaed the documents.
She said Mr. Marcos acted in accordance with the law and established procedures despite his earlier position of not interfering in the impeachment proceedings.
“If the law requires the President’s approval for the BIR to release the tax records of Vice-President Sara and Atty. Mans Carpio in the interest of establishing the truth, he will not withhold that truth from the Filipino people,” she said in Filipino.
She added that the President “will not stand in the way of the truth” and rejected suggestions that the approval signaled executive interference, saying he was merely complying with legal requirements.
Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon, a House prosecutor, likewise confirmed that the BIR had turned over the records after obtaining presidential approval.
“The President of the Philippines gave his approval for these documents to be released,” he told a news briefing.
Ms. Duterte’s defense spokesman Michael T. Poa declined to comment on the Palace’s confirmation.
Under Section 71 of the National Internal Revenue Code, income tax returns may only be disclosed upon the President’s order in cases allowed by law.
Mr. Tongol said the impeachment court presumed the BIR had complied with all legal requirements before submitting the records.
“If the BIR was able to formally comply with the subpoena of this impeachment court today, it goes without saying that they have faithfully satisfied all statutory and executive prerequisites,” he said.
MINISTERIAL REQUIREMENTBIR personnel arrived at the Senate at around 9 a.m. to deliver the tax records, while documents from the banking institutions were received shortly before noon. The impeachment court also confirmed receipt of the subpoenaed AMLC records.
On July 20, presiding officer Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero approved the House prosecution’s requests to subpoena the bank records of Ms. Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases R. Carpio, as well as records involving 20 corporate entities composed of 19 corporations and one partnership.
The court also granted the prosecution’s request to obtain records from the AMLC, with all subpoenaed documents due on July 30.
Mr. Ridon said the records must still undergo the impeachment court’s evidentiary process before they could be admitted as evidence.
“The presiding officer or the court will have to decide on the day that it will be submitted in evidence whether or not these pieces of evidence will be admitted,” he said, adding that the defense is expected to object to the admission of the BIR, AMLC and bank records.
He described the President’s approval as a ministerial requirement rather than executive intervention in the impeachment proceedings.
Mr. Ridon said the records could help determine whether transactions reflected in the Duterte-Carpio couple’s bank accounts had been properly declared in the Vice-President’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and tax filings.
“If we saw money come in, and money go out, the question we are asking now is why is this not listed as a line item in her SALN,” he said in Filipino.
He added that the House prosecution would next present Commission on Audit (CoA) officials who are expected to testify on Ms. Duterte’s use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023.
“The CoA auditors will detail how the funds had been used, and the documentation is actually very clear — confidential funds were used for nonconfidential expenses like leadership training,” he added.
Mr. Tongol said the subpoenaed records would only be released to the prosecution and defense after the Clerk of Court completes the inventory. He added that the impeachment court would not disclose the substantive contents of the documents, including specific records and amounts. — K.P.B. Gabriel, Pexcel John Bacon and Erika Mae P. Sinaking