ALL banks and financial institutions subpoenaed by the Senate impeachment court have complied with orders requiring them to submit records in connection with the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Clerk of Court Renato Bantug Jr. said Friday the subpoena compliance was completed on Thursday, after the remaining documents were submitted by two banks that had sought additional time to comply.
The court issued subpoenas for financial records on July 20. The banks submitted the requested documents on July 30, but two of them asked for an extension.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Anti-Money Laundering Council, along with all the subpoenaed banks, also submitted certified true copies as ordered by the court on Aug. 3.
“With Thursday’s submission, all documents required under the issued subpoenas have been submitted,” Bantug said.
The subpoenaed records are expected to form part of the evidence in examining the impeachment complaints against Duterte.
The prosecution panel is alleging irregularities in the handling and disbursing of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
In a related development, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Friday denied rumors that the vice president had been arrested.
The rumors spread on Thursday as Matibag visited Davao City the day after an “operation.”
Matibag said Duterte has pending court motions which the NBI has to respect.
“I don’t think so kasi I heard parang nag-file siya ng motion to dismiss yata. Let’s wait for the ruling of the court, RTC (regional trial court) in Quezon City, what will be the ruling on the pending omnibus motions and kung merong in-issue na na warrant of arrest (I don’t think so, because I heard she seemingly filed a motion to dismiss. Let’s wait for the court’s ruling, the RTC in Quezon City, on what the decision will be regarding the pending omnibus motions and whether an arrest warrant has been issued),” Matibag told reporters in a briefing at the Eastern Mindanao Command headquarters in Davao City.
The NBI filed the complaint as it probed a November 2024 online press conference where Duterte openly talked about having contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former speaker Martin Romualdez.
On Friday, Malacañang criticized the vice president’s legal team after it filed a legal manifestation seeking oral arguments on their motion to quash her grave threats cases.
The team warned of “far-reaching consequences,” arguing that if a sitting vice president can be indicted and prosecuted, other incumbent impeachable officials — including Supreme Court justices, members of Constitutional Commissions, the Ombudsman and the president — could face similar legal actions.
In response, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro questioned whether the vice president’s camp was issuing “yet another threat,” asserting that no high-ranking official is immune from legal accountability.
“Are they issuing yet another threat? It appears to be the same narrative. However, we must remember that no one is above the law,” Castro said.
Castro said accountability measures, including impeachment and criminal prosecution, exist to uphold the rule of law rather than serve political ends, provided they rest on legitimate evidence.
“In fact, any impeachable official may be impeached provided there are valid grounds, rather than cases built on fabricated evidence and paid false witnesses,” she said.
Meanwhile, a survey by Momentum Research showed that Filipinos are nearly evenly divided on whether public opinion or evidence should guide senator-judges in deciding the impeachment case against Duterte.
The survey showed that 36.8 percent of respondents said senator-judges should base their decision on public opinion, while 36.3 percent said they should consider the strength or weakness of the evidence.
The results also showed sharp differences across political groups.
Among pro-Duterte respondents, 40.9 percent said public opinion should be the main basis for the decision, while 33.4 percent preferred evidence.
Evidence was favored by pro-opposition respondents, with 43.4 percent saying it should guide the senator-judges, while 37.7 percent favored public opinion.
Among pro-Marcos respondents, 36.4 percent preferred public opinion and 31.8 percent favored evidence.
The poll showed that 37.9 percent of the respondents chose evidence, compared with 35 percent who preferred public opinion.
The survey also found that 18.4 percent of pro-Marcos respondents believed senator-judges should base their decision on their own conscience, compared with 10 percent nationally.
Regional results showed a similar split.
Public opinion was favored by respondents in Metro Manila, at 40 percent, and the rest of Luzon, at 39.7 percent.
In the Visayas and Mindanao, evidence ranked higher, at 32.9 percent and 38.7 percent, respectively.
Mindanao also recorded the highest percentage of respondents who said the interests of political allies should be considered in the senator-judges’ decision, at 13.9 percent. This was higher than the figures in the Visayas at 8.8 percent, Metro Manila at 8.1 percent and the rest of Luzon at 4.7 percent.
Nationally, 10 percent said the senator-judges should rely on their conscience, while 8 percent cited the interests of political allies. Another 7.1 percent were unsure and 1.8 percent declined to answer.
The National Momentum Survey polled 1,438 Filipino adults from July 13 to 16.
