Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has pressed the Senate impeachment court to summon Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank and tax records, invoking precedent from the 2012 trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Speaking during oral arguments, Diokno reminded senator-judges that the impeachment court had previously admitted Corona’s tax documents and ordered Philippine Savings Bank officials to produce his account records, including deposits predating his appointment as Chief Justice.
“This is not the first time this Court has been confronted with this issue,” Diokno said, citing then-senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s insistence that initial deposits were vital to determining whether Corona committed impeachable offenses.
Diokno argued that the same principle should apply to Duterte, whose Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) files, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reports, and bank records are sought by the prosecution.
“The panel of prosecutors respectfully submits that the subpoenas… are proper and should be issued by this Honorable Court,” he said, stressing the need to examine “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
The BIR box containing Duterte’s records remains sealed after the House justice committee forwarded it to the Senate without opening it.
Duterte’s lawyers have “vehemently opposed” its unveiling, even for marking as evidence. Prosecutors, however, maintain their case is strong, citing AMLC confirmation of suspicious transactions involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
The documents are intended to support Article II of the impeachment complaint, which alleges culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust through unexplained wealth disproportionate to Duterte’s lawful income. # (ZIA LUNA)
