PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has authorized the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to submit the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, to the Senate Impeachment Court trying her case.
BIR representatives delivered Duterte’s tax documents enclosed in a red box to the Office of Senate Secretary Rey Bantug, the clerk of the impeachment court, on Thursday morning, in compliance with the subpoenas issued by the impeachment court for the financial records of Duterte, Carpio and 20 of their companies identified in the subpoenas.
Speaking to reporters, Bantug confirmed that the tax records submitted by the BIR to the impeachment court were accompanied by a written authorization from Malacañang.
“I would not have received it if there was no presidential authorization,” Bantug said.
Prosecutors said Duterte’s world is “getting smaller” as more evidence of her wrongdoing is presented at her trial.
“Bank records and documents are being submitted one by one today to the Senate impeachment court,” said House Impeachment Prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon.
The Office of the Vice President and the vice president’s defense team declined to comment on Thursday on the release of the tax records.
Bank records, too
Aside from the BIR records, the court has also received documentary submissions from the BDO Unibank Inc., Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), Security Bank Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands and Land Bank of the Philippines.
Bantug said that some banks asked for 10 more days to submit some of the subpoenaed documents.
He also said the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) was expected to submit its documents by Thursday, July 30.
The subpoena stemmed from the House prosecution’s bid to obtain financial records that it said would support its allegation of unexplained wealth against Duterte, which is Article II of the impeachment complaint.
During House hearings on the impeachment complaints, lawmakers cited alleged bank transactions totaling P6.77 billion from 2006 to 2025 that they claimed were inconsistent with the vice president’s declared assets.
Duterte’s defense team has opposed the subpoenas, arguing that the requests are illegal, unreasonable and violate the constitutional rights of the vice president and her spouse.
The impeachment court, in a ruling issued on July 20, granted the prosecution’s requests for Duterte’s financial records, including those covering the years 2007 to 2021, when Duterte served as Davao City vice mayor and mayor.
The impeachment court emphasized, however, that the records’ admissibility as evidence remains subject to the court’s rules.
The court said the records predating Duterte’s position as vice president may be used to establish a financial baseline in determining whether assets accumulated during Duterte’s tenure in the country’s second-highest post were disproportionate to her lawful income.
They may not, however, be used to introduce new impeachable offenses allegedly committed before she assumed an impeachable office.
The subpoena also excluded foreign-currency deposits and the financial records of JTC Group of Companies Philippines Inc. and Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Corp., with the court saying prosecutors failed to sufficiently establish the companies’ links to Duterte or Carpio.
AMLC transaction records
Ridon said the prosecution was also awaiting the submission of AMLC transaction reports covering P6.7 billion in total transactions and P4.4 billion in inflows involving Duterte and her husband.
Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Ziaur-Rhaman Alonto Adiong said the documents would be used as evidence in the Article 1 charges of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust against Duterte over her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds and would provide the paper trail on how the money was misappropriated.
“This is important because it is part of showing the flow of money from the treasury to the vice president’s pocket,” Adiong said in Filipino.
“And in the following weeks, the prosecution will show how VP Sara’s handling of these funds were in complete disregard of her oath of office, which constitutes betrayal of public trust.
The Senate Impeachment Court earlier granted the prosecution’s request to subpoena Duterte’s bank records, tax documents and AMLC reports in connection with the impeachment article alleging that she amassed unexplained wealth.
Ridon said the prosecution would next shift its focus from tracing the withdrawal of confidential funds to showing how they were allegedly spent.
He noted that former Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) branch managers Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano testified on Wednesday that the encashment of P612.5 million in confidential funds was unlike anything they had encountered during their banking careers.
“They said that in the entirety of their careers, this is the first time they’ve seen such a massive cash withdrawal. That is precisely why they described it as unusual — as something extraordinary,” Ridon said.
“As far as we’re concerned, it looked as though the funds — specifically the confidential funds — had been completely drained,” he added.
The lawmaker said the prosecution’s next witnesses from the Commission on Audit (COA) would explain why portions of Duterte’s confidential fund expenditures became the subject of notices of disallowance.
The auditors, he added, would testify on the handling of the Office of the Vice President’s 2022 and 2023 confidential funds, including the notice of disallowance covering P448 million and the COA decision that has become final and executory, ordering Duterte to personally return P73.287 million in 2022 confidential funds.
Ridon added that succeeding witnesses from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Statistics Authority would also testify on questioned acknowledgment receipts submitted to liquidate the confidential funds.
Transparency
In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said despite accusations that the move was politically motivated, Marcos’ decision to authorize the disclosure of the tax records stem from his duty to uphold transparency and adhere to legal mandates.
“No matter what others say, the president knows that he is adhering to the process and the law. Even if he is subjected to negative remarks, the president remains unswayed; he stands firm on the law and the process,” Castro said in Filipino. WITH JAMES DANIEL DANIO AND ARIC JOHN SY CUA
