House panel warns banks of contempt over non-cooperation in Duterte probe

House Committee on Justice chairperson and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro warned that banks holding records linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and Atty. Mans Carpio may be cited in contempt if they fail to cooperate with the panel’s investigation.

“Well, failure to obey the lawful order of a court of law, that includes the power of the Justice Committee to compel the production of documents by way of subpoena, the consequence is that they can be cited in contempt for failure to obey a lawful order of impeachment proceedings,” Luistro said.

The request for bank records forms part of additional evidence being sought by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno through the issuance of subpoenas.

Luistro did not specify which banks would be covered by the court orders but reiterated that legal consequences would follow in case of non-compliance.

The records are being sought in connection with allegations against the Vice President, including an inquiry into her reported P88 million income in 2024, which was cited as significantly higher than her cumulative salary of around P30 million to P40 million from 2007 to 2023.

Aside from questions on her income, Duterte is also facing allegations of bribery, malversation of confidential funds during her tenure as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, and issuing verbal death threats against the President, the First Lady, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, among other accusations.

The third and fourth impeachment complaints filed against Duterte were unanimously found sufficient in grounds on March 18, after her camp did not directly address the issues raised in her submitted ad cautelam response.

The House Justice Committee is set to resume proceedings on March 25, after being authorized to continue hearings for the determination of probable cause by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, despite the ongoing congressional recess for the Lenten break.