Sen. Chiz Escudero, presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court, has ordered the return of a sealed box containing Vice President Sara Duterte’s tax records to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, saying the court had never issued a lawful order authorizing its transfer to the Senate.
“In so far as the BIR box is concerned, this box was turned over to the Senate as part of the documents including the Articles of Impeachment,” Escudero said on Monday. “However, the court is not yet in custodial legis of this box, given that there’s no lawful order issued by the court for this box to be turned over to the Senate,” he added.
The former Senate president ordered that the sealed box be returned to the BIR by Tuesday morning “closed, sealed and as it received,” while leaving the door open for either party to later seek a subpoena for the records. He said the impeachment court would await whatever action the BIR commissioner may take if such a request is eventually filed.
The box, which is said to contain the income tax returns of Duterte, her husband and their businesses, was initially submitted to the House Committee on Justice during the impeachment proceedings but remained unopened. It was later forwarded to the Senate together with the other impeachment records.
Prosecutors earlier pushed to have the box opened during pre-trial proceedings, but the issue was put on hold to give the defense an opportunity to respond. Duterte’s lawyers later said they would only agree to opening the box in an executive session, while declining to allow its unsealing and marking as evidence during the pre-trial conference.
The prosecution has sought Duterte’s tax records to bolster its allegation that she amassed ill-gotten wealth, one of the four impeachment charges against the vice president, alongside the alleged misuse of confidential funds, bribery, and alleged assassination and destabilization threats.
