The Senate has ordered the submission of Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank and tax records before the impeachment court, overruling objections by her lawyers and several sympathetic senators.
Impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero granted the petitions have the vice president’s bank and tax records submitted to the court: “The request for subpoenas directed to the concerned banking institutions covering the accounts of respondent Atty. Manases Carpio (Duterte’s husband), separately or jointly, the partnership of Carpio lawyers, and 19 listed corporate entities is granted. The banks are ordered to submit the documents to the Clerk of Court on July 30, 2026 at 9 AM.”
The records pertain to the second article of impeachment against the vice president alleging unexplained wealth and dishonesty in her declaration of assets, liabilities and net worth.
Escudero, citing various precedents and local jurisprudence, said he finds that the requested documents are reasonably described, readily identifiable, and relevant and material to allegations of unexplained, even illegal wealth, accumulated by Duterte since she became an elected official in 2007.
Escudero likewise overruled the defense’s objection regarding the separate and joint bank accounts of Atty. Carpio and Duterte. He said the court is unconvinced by the respondent’s claim that issuing a subpoena would usurp the authority of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the country’s tax agency.
Escudero, however, said the subpoena may be limited if the BIR does not agree to submit the documents according to its interpretation of existing tax laws, or if there is no presidential order to release the tax records. He clarified that the subpoena is merely preliminary and procedural, and does not authorize the disclosure of tax records as evidence.
In earlier investigations, the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council showed that P6.7 billion (Dirham399 million) worth of transactions were recorded in Duterte’s bank accounts, solely or with her husband.
Anti-corruption group Bantay Impeachment said the huge amount is far beyond Duterte’s legal income and is contrary to her declaration of wealth that she has had no money or cash on hand for several years. House of Representatives prosecutors also revealed their discovery of several properties that VP Duterte did not duly declare. “Therefore, we need to see her tax records to see the data related to the said properties,” Bantay Impeachment said.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and sibling Senator Pia Cayetano, along with Senator Robinhood Padilla expressed opposition to the ruling, saying Duterte’s bank and tax records should only be investigated from 2022 when she became an impeachable official. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
