The House Committee on Justice will intensify its scrutiny of Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth at its second impeachment hearing on Wednesday, armed with newly secured tax, corporate and financial intelligence records.
Panel chair Rep. Gerville Reyes-Luistro confirmed in a radio interview with DZBB that the committee has cast a wide net for documentary evidence to establish probable cause. This includes income tax returns obtained from the Bureau of Internal Revenue for both the vice president and her husband, Manases Carpio.
Luistro said Carpio’s petition for a temporary restraining order to block the release of their tax documents is now “moot and academic,” as the BIR has already submitted the records to the committee. She justified the inclusion of Carpio’s financial data by citing the legal principle of conjugal property, under which the income of the vice president is considered shared with her spouse.
To avoid potential legal hurdles tied to the country’s bank secrecy laws, the panel did not summon banking executives.
“We did not subpoena the bank records. We did not subpoena the bank employees. We did not subpoena the bank officials. What we subpoenaed were the reports from the AMLC,” Luistro said in Filipino.
By relying on the Anti-Money Laundering Council to present reports on covered and suspicious transactions, the committee aims to access financial intelligence within legal bounds. Luistro said questioning will be strictly confirmatory and limited to the AMLC’s findings.
At Wednesday’s hearing, lawmakers will cross-check the financial data with Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), which the Office of the Ombudsman has been ordered to submit. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been directed to provide audited financial statements and general information sheets of businesses declared by the couple.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has also been subpoenaed to testify and present documents upon the motion of Rep. Leila de Lima. Trillanes is expected to present dossiers on bank accounts allegedly under Duterte’s name or jointly held with her family.
The committee is currently in the fact-finding phase to determine whether there is probable cause to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
The hearing follows an earlier proceeding on 14 April, where self-confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga testified to moving millions of pesos and acting as a financial “dummy” for the Duterte family.