The Senate impeachment court on Monday returned the unsealed box containing the income tax returns of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The box was intended to form part of the House prosecution's evidence to support allegations of Duterte's unexplained wealth and discrepancies in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

However, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero ruled that the court lacked the legal authority to keep the box because it had not been entered as evidence during the pretrial stage.

"The court is not yet in custodia legis of this box, given that there is no lawful order issued by the court for this box to be turned over to the Senate, more so that it is not yet offered in evidence, not even as of yet marked," Escudero said.

The House prosecution had turned over the box to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment and other evidentiary documents outlining the four charges against Duterte.

However, because the Senate impeachment court neither issued a lawful order nor subpoenaed the tax records, Escudero said the documents must be returned to the BIR, especially since they were not admitted as evidence.

Over the weekend, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson disclosed that a majority of senators had agreed to return the box following Escudero's recommendation.

Escudero reportedly said the impeachment court had no authority to keep, much less unseal, the box because such authority rests with the House prosecution, subject to authorization by the President upon the recommendation of the BIR and the Department of Finance, as provided under the National Internal Revenue Code (Republic Act No. 8424).

The House committee on justice subpoenaed the tax records in April at the height of the impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.

Lawmakers, however, deferred disclosing the records to the Senate impeachment court because of concerns that doing so could violate tax confidentiality and privacy laws, particularly since Carpio is a private citizen.

The box later became a point of contention between the prosecution and the defense during the pretrial conference, which concluded in late June.

The prosecution asked the impeachment court to premark the contents of the box so they could later be offered as evidence against Duterte.

The defense strongly objected, arguing that opening the box at such an early stage of the proceedings was premature and could violate Carpio's privacy rights.

The defense also opposed even the premarking of the box itself, citing confidentiality and due process concerns.

As a result, the box was neither opened nor admitted into evidence during the pretrial conference.

Escudero, however, emphasized that the court's decision to return the box to the BIR was "without prejudice to any action that the court may take."

This means the records may still be presented during the trial if either the prosecution or the defense successfully asks the impeachment court to subpoena them.

"We shall await action, if any, by the BIR commissioner, should that time come," Escudero said.

Under Republic Act No. 8424, tax records are confidential and may be disclosed only under limited circumstances, such as during executive sessions conducted in aid of legislation or with the taxpayer's written consent.

Because impeachment proceedings are not expressly considered inquiries in aid of legislation, House prosecutors deferred opening the box during the House proceedings.

Lacson, however, argued over the weekend that the House prosecution "should not pass the burden of unsealing the box" to the impeachment court because doing so could expose the tribunal to accusations of grave abuse of discretion and further complicate the impeachment trial, which began on Monday, 6 July.

Former Supreme Court associate justice Adolfo Azcuna told the DAILY TRIBUNE that one possible solution is for the Senate to first convene as a legislative body before endorsing the records to the Senate impeachment court.

He explained that because the Senate functions both as a legislative body and as an impeachment court, it may legally authorize the opening of the box before transmitting the records to the impeachment tribunal.