By el Amigo
MANILA, Philippines — Tax records sought by the Senate impeachment court in the case against Vice President Sara Duterte have been turned over by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. authorized their release.
The BIR acted on the Senate subpoena after confirming that the President’s approval satisfied the legal requirements governing the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information under the National Internal Revenue Code.
The documents were submitted to the Clerk of Court within the prescribed period and are now undergoing inventory and authentication before copies are distributed to the prosecution and defense panels.
Among the records covered by the subpoena are the income tax filings of Vice President Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, and several corporations reportedly linked to the family.
House prosecutors earlier requested the documents to support allegations of unexplained wealth, saying the records may help establish whether Duterte’s declared income and assets are consistent with other evidence gathered during the investigation.
The Senate impeachment court had previously ruled that the documents were relevant to the proceedings but emphasized that the BIR could not release them without presidential authorization.
The turnover removes a key procedural barrier for the prosecution as it continues presenting evidence before the impeachment tribunal.
Vice President Duterte has repeatedly denied the allegations against her, while her defense team maintains that the impeachment complaint is politically motivated and unsupported by sufficient evidence.
The impeachment court will ultimately determine whether the tax records will be admitted and what evidentiary weight they will carry during the remainder of the trial.
