By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The Senate impeachment court on Thursday granted the House prosecution panel’s request to subpoena the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and representatives of seven banks and seven insurance and financial companies as prosecutors pressed ahead with their financial evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Presiding Senator-Judge Francis Escudero approved the request after lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro formally sought subpoenas for the government agency and financial institutions.
The court action came shortly after the prosecution announced that it would no longer present former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV as a witness in the impeachment proceedings.
With Trillanes removed from the witness lineup, the prosecution is shifting toward records and testimony directly sourced from government agencies and financial institutions in support of its presentation under Article II.
Luistro told the court that only Anti-Money Laundering Council Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura would be presented on Friday.
The prosecution will then present BIR representatives on Monday, October 5, followed by representatives of banks and insurance companies on Tuesday, October 6.
The banks covered by the subpoena request are Land Bank of the Philippines, Asia United Bank, Philippine Savings Bank, Metrobank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philippine National Bank and Banco de Oro.
The insurance and financial companies named are Prudential Life, Allianz, Manufacturers Life, FWD Life Insurance, BPI AIA Life, BDO Securities and BDO Life.
Luistro renewed the prosecution’s request for the subpoenas as it laid out the schedule for the next phase of its evidence presentation.
Escudero subsequently granted the request covering the appearances scheduled for October 5 and 6.
The subpoenas bring the BIR and the listed financial institutions directly into the prosecution’s effort to establish its financial allegations through official records and testimony.
The move also follows the decision to drop Trillanes as a witness, leaving the prosecution to pursue its financial evidence through the agencies and institutions that hold or can authenticate the records involved.
The impeachment court will hear the AMLC testimony first before the proceedings shift to the BIR and the summoned financial institutions next week.
ia/xf
