The Senate impeachment court has received the subpoenaed bank, tax, and anti-money laundering records of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio and her husband, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.'s authorization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to release their income tax records.
The Office of the Senate Secretary confirmed that all documents subpoenaed from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Anti-Money Laundering Council, and several banks have been received, and a meticulous inventory of the documents is currently underway.
The Palace Press Officer stated that the President approved the release of the tax records in accordance with the law and established procedures, despite his earlier position of not interfering in the impeachment proceedings, in order to establish the truth and not withhold it from the public.
According to the National Internal Revenue Code, income tax returns may only be disclosed upon the President's order in cases allowed by law, which in this instance was a ministerial requirement rather than executive intervention in the impeachment proceedings.
The impeachment court received the tax records from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, as well as documents from several banking institutions, including BDO Unibank, Inc., Philippine Savings Bank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Land Bank of the Philippines, and Security Bank Corp.
The House prosecution will now review the records to 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 and tax filings.
The prosecution plans to present Commission on Audit officials who will testify on the Vice-President's use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, and detail how the funds had been used for non-confidential expenses.
The subpoenaed records will only be released to the prosecution and defense after the Clerk of Court completes the inventory, and the impeachment court will not disclose the substantive contents of the documents, including specific records and amounts.
