The Philippine Senate is currently deliberating whether to issue subpoenas for the bank and tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, as part of her ongoing impeachment trial. This decision is crucial for the prosecution, which asserts these documents are vital evidence for allegations of unexplained wealth and the misuse of confidential funds.
House prosecutors have argued that an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report already serves as a sufficient basis for requesting these financial records, preventing the request from being a "fishing expedition." According to a House prosecutor, this report indicated that billions of pesos passed through Duterte's and her husband's accounts. The prosecution aims to scrutinize bank records, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) documents, and AMLC reports to establish the complete financial picture. The defense, however, maintains that the request for these private financial records is "oppressive" and questions whether the impeachment court's subpoena powers can supersede due process without the President's approval.
Key areas of investigation for the prosecution include $612.5 million in confidential funds from Duterte's time at the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, as well as an alleged increase in her declared net worth from $34.89 million in 2016 to $88.51 million in 2024. The prosecution has allocated a significant portion of the trial, at least 31 dates, to the confidential funds charge alone, underscoring its complexity. Senator-judges will vote on the subpoena request, requiring a simple majority of the 21 senators present, meaning 11 votes, to approve.
The potential opening of sealed BIR documents is also a point of contention, with presidential approval sometimes required for such disclosures. Malacañang has stated that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not yet received any request to authorize the unsealing of Duterte's tax records. While the defense has expressed a willingness to allow the box of tax records to be opened, they insist it should occur only in an executive session. The prosecution asserts that laws like the Bank Secrecy Law and Data Privacy Act do not preclude the impeachment court from accessing these records under a valid subpoena, citing impeachment as an exception to confidentiality rules.
