By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The House prosecution panel has renewed its appeal for the Senate impeachment court to authorize the opening of a sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, arguing that the documents should be examined before the impeachment trial formally begins.
Speaking during a virtual press briefing on Friday, House impeachment spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the prosecution believes the supervised opening of the sealed records is necessary to ensure an orderly and transparent presentation of evidence.
“This is the proper time, this is the proper venue, and in the interest of justice, let us open the box,” Adiong said.
The House panel has formally asked the Senate impeachment court to permit the supervised inspection of the BIR documents, which have been identified by both the prosecution and the defense as reserve evidence in the impeachment proceedings.
Adiong clarified that prosecutors are not asking the court to immediately admit the tax records as evidence.
“Our request is simply for the box to be opened under the court’s supervision so the documents can be identified, examined, and marked. This will make the conduct of the trial more organized once the presentation of evidence begins,” he explained.
The sealed box reportedly contains tax records that prosecutors believe may be relevant to one of the impeachment articles alleging unexplained wealth and inconsistencies in the Vice President’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
According to the prosecution, the documents could help determine whether Duterte’s declared income corresponds with her reported assets and financial disclosures.
The House panel also argued that impeachment proceedings fall under recognized legal exceptions to the confidentiality of tax records, making the request to inspect the documents legally justified.
Prosecutors stressed that allowing the supervised opening of the BIR box would merely facilitate the identification and marking of potential evidence before trial and would not automatically make the documents admissible in court.
The impeachment trial is scheduled to proceed on July 6, while the Senate impeachment court has yet to rule on the prosecution’s motion to unseal the BIR records.
ia/xf
