Impeachment court pulls livestream over exposed BIR officers' names

The Senate impeachment court took down the original livestream of Day 37 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Friday after the names of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officers, who conducted the audit of the tax and financial records of her and her husband, Manases Carpio, were inadvertently shown by the defense despite their confidential nature.

The segment from the pulled livestream runs for nearly three hours.

Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero ordered the clerk of court to re-upload a new version of the proceedings on the Senate’s social media pages with the names of the BIR officers redacted.

The order came after BIR Commissioner Chief of Staff Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez flagged the disclosure of names, which were flashed on the screen as defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer confronted her about the issuance of the two letters of authority (LOA).

An LOA issued by the BIR grants designated revenue officers the legal authority to examine a taxpayer’s books of account and accounting records. The BIR issued it to the officers in question to audit Duterte and Carpio's tax records amid allegations of unexplained wealth.

“It should have been redacted,” Marquez told the Senate impeachment court.

Private prosecutor Erwin Matib pointed out that “there has been a violation of the privacy of the people involved.”

“Their names were flashed on the screen for everyone to see,” he said.

The contents of an LOA are generally confidential, subject to exceptions such as the explicit consent of the taxpayer.

Early in the trial, Marquez, also a lawyer, reminded Ferrer of the letter’s confidentiality, but Ferrer proceeded, citing Duterte’s consent.

Despite this, Escudero subsequently ruled that sensitive information must be preserved pursuant to privacy law.

“[B]e careful next time in so far as revealing names or addresses given the public nature of these proceedings as it might violate some provisions of the Data Privacy Act as well as the security of certain officials of government engaged in various activities and as part of their official functions and duties,” Escudero ordered.

Aside from the rival parties, Escudero also advised media organizations simulcasting or restreaming the proceedings to exercise the same caution when reporting sensitive information to avoid a security compromise.

BIR records showed that Duterte and Carpio had a combined after-tax income of P85.34 million from 2007 to 2025, or an 18-year period.

The prosecution, however, pointed out that the figure is P13.3 million lower than the P98.7 million that Duterte declared in her 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs.

The prosecution has accused Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth allegedly disproportionate to her lawful income. Duterte is also accused of willful failure to truthfully disclose her assets in her SALNS, which they alleged is an impeachable offense under the grounds of "betrayal of public trust” and “culpable violation of the Constitution.”