Supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives, a day before the Committee on Justice resumes its hearings on Tuesday.
The group staged a rally outside the Supreme Court, questioning the legal basis for the impeachment complaint and arguing a lack of sufficiency in evidence to proceed with further hearings.
At the same time, Duterte’s husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, filed a petition before a Quezon City court seeking to block a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Justice for his tax records.
House Justice panel member Representative Terry Ridon confirmed that the committee received a copy of Carpio’s petition, which seeks a TRO against the subpoena issued in connection with the impeachment inquiry.
The committee had earlier directed the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to submit the tax records of Duterte and Carpio covering the years 2007 to 2025, and ordered BIR commissioner Charlito Mendoza to appear at the next hearing.
The subpoena also covered several corporations and business entities allegedly linked to the couple, including Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Gencorp Industries Inc., Carpio Lawyers, 888 Bistro, CALE88 Foods Corp., Madayaw Fisheries Corp., Mati City Ice Plant and Cold Storage Inc., Amianan Shores Inc., Geometry Security and Investigation Agency Inc., and Cabletow 88 Shipping and Marine Services Inc.
In his 8 April petition, Carpio asked the court to issue a 72-hour TRO and/or a 20-day TRO to stop the enforcement of the subpoena dated 31 March, arguing that it was issued without authority and violated his constitutional rights, including the privacy and protections under the National Internal Revenue Code.
He also sought to permanently block the subpoena and nullify it, saying that its enforcement could expose confidential tax records and private data to public scrutiny.
Carpio added the documents could be used for political purposes and result in reputational harm, including “public ridicule and social humiliation.”
The House committee had earlier issued subpoenas covering Vice President Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for 2007–2013, 2016–2022 and 2022–2025.