The Senate Impeachment Court has scheduled oral arguments to determine whether the controversial bank records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, should be subpoenaed.

During the third day of Duterte's impeachment trial, Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero directed both the prosecution and the defense to submit their written memoranda on the subpoena request by 13 July (Monday).

According to Impeachment Court spokesperson Atty. Regie Tongol, both parties will be given time to review each other's memoranda before the oral arguments.

"Afterwards, in the oral arguments, they will just reiterate the important parts of their memorandum for the public to understand," Tongol said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Tongol said the oral arguments are intended to present both sides' positions to the public, as the proceedings will be televised.

"The information written in the memoranda will be explained during the oral arguments. After that, the senator-judges will decide whether to grant the prosecution's request to subpoena the couple's bank records," he said.

He added that the oral arguments are expected to be rigorous, with both panels facing questions from the senator-judges.

Tongol said the proceedings will tackle issues involving the Bank Secrecy Law, the confidentiality of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) records, and the manner in which the documents were obtained.

"The oral arguments would determine whether tax laws and bank secrecy laws were violated," he said.

Tongol explained that Presiding Officer Escudero will initially rule on the subpoena request, after which any senator-judge may challenge the ruling through a motion.

"The appeal would be voted on by the senator-judges. If the appeal fails to secure a majority, the presiding officer's ruling will stand. If the appeal obtains a majority, the presiding officer's decision will be overturned," he said.

The prosecution has also renewed its request for a subpoena duces tecum covering bank records addressed to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) chairperson and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr.

On Monday, Escudero ordered the return of a sealed BIR box and deferred action on the prosecution's requests for bank and AMLC records.

He said the sealed BIR box should be returned to the tax agency because the impeachment court had not issued any lawful order authorizing the Senate to take custody of it.

Meanwhile, Escudero granted the prosecution's request for the issuance of a subpoena ad testificandum to Atty. Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff of the Office of the Vice President.