Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has greenlit the release of tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Mans Carpio, to the Senate sitting as the Impeachment Court, Palace press officer Claire Castro said.
The president earlier said he is distancing himself from the trial, which is the sole jurisdiction of the court. The tribunal has subpoenaed the tax records, but the disclosure is subject to presidential approval under the law.
“Yes, but yung huli nating sinabi, kung ano ang sinasabi ng batas, kung ano ang proseso, susunod po ang pangulo,” Castro said in a press briefing on Thursday, July 30, when asked about the decision of the president in light of his previous statement..
“Ito naman ay para sa katotohanan. ‘Di niya ipagkakait ang katotohanan sa ating kababayan,” she added.
[Translation: Yes, like we’ve said before, the president will follow what the law says and follow the proper process…This is for the truth. He will not deprive our citizens of the truth.]
Castro brushed aside speculation that politics was behind the move as the vice president has been outspoken against her former ally and running mate in the 2022 elections.
“Sa lahat naman ng pagkakataon kapag ang pangulo ay gumagawa na nang-aayon sa batas pero may tinatamaan, laging sasabihin nila politically motivated,” Castro continued.
“So saan pupunta, saan gagawi ang pangulo? Kahit ano pang sabihin ng iba, basta alam ng pangulo siya ay tumutupad sa proseso, siya at tumutupad sa batas, kahit siya pa ay paringgan o bigyan ng negatibong impresyon di matitinag ang pangulo,” said the Palace official.
[Translation: Every time the president does something in line with the law, if someone gets hit, it will always be labelled politically motivated. What should the president do? No matter what others say, as long as the president knows he is following due process and the law, he will remain undeterred even if he faces negative criticism.]
On Thursday morning, July 30, the BIR turned over boxes containing Duterte’s tax records to the Office of Senate Secretary Rey Bantug, the clerk of the Impeachment Court.
This Impeachment Court partially granted the prosecution bid to subpoena Duterte’s bank, tax, and Anti-Money Laundering Council documents. The court set the deadline at July 30 for the submission of documents.
The vice president’s bank records and reports from the AMLC are also due for submission.
In a chance interview with reporters at the Senate on Thursday morning, House prosecution spokesperson Renee Co said the rest of the documents are expected to trickle in throughout the day.
Referencing the testimonies of the ex-Land bank of the Philippines (Landbank) branch managers from the July 29 trial session, Co said the prosecution established that massive sums of public funds had been encashed by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when Duterte was secretary.
READ: OVP, DepEd cash withdrawals ‘unusual’ – Landbank witnesses
“Today, yung i-establish naman natin ano yung picture ng wealth ni VP Sara Duterte and siguro ang isa pang tanong, normal po ba na may more than one hundred individual bank accounts ang isang government official,” Co said.
[Translation: Today, we will establish a picture of Duterte’s wealth and another question, is it normal for a government official to have more than one hundred individual bank accounts.]
“We let the evidence speak, we let these documents tell the story,” she added.
Meanwhile, the following individuals are expected to take the witness stand to testify on Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds:
+Roderick Wamil, former state auditor of the Commission on Audit-Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Unit (COA-ICFAU);
+Xylene del Campo, state auditor of the COA-ICFAU, and;
+Marivic Pareja of the Legislative Archives and Museum Management Service of the House of Representatives
