THE House prosecution panel on Wednesday pointed to the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona as precedent for issuing subpoenas for the financial and tax records of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and her husband.
During oral arguments before the Senate impeachment court, impeachment prosecutor and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno said the Senate had previously allowed the production and examination of bank records that predated Corona’s appointment as Chief Justice.
“Sa huli, binusisi ng hukumang ito ang bank records ni Chief Justice Corona mula sa kanyang unang balance bago pa man siya naging Punong Mahistrado,” Diokno said.
The prosecution made the argument in support of its request to subpoena the bank records, Bureau of Internal Revenue records and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reports of Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio.
It argued that the documents are material to the second article of impeachment, which accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth disproportionate to her lawful income, concealing assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and engaging in business in violation of the Constitution.
Diokno recounted that then Philippine Savings (PS) Bank President Pascual Garcia III initially declined to answer a question from then senator-judge Franklin Drilon regarding the opening balance of two peso-denominated accounts owned by Corona.
He said then senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano, who is also serving as a senator-judge in the Duterte impeachment trial, pointed out that the opening documents for the accounts should have been produced before the impeachment court.
According to Diokno, then Senate President and presiding officer Juan Ponce Enrile agreed with Cayetano’s observation and ordered the issuance of a subpoena directing the manager of the PS Bank Katipunan branch to produce all of Corona’s bank records.
Diokno said the impeachment court later denied the defense’s motion to quash the subpoena covering Corona’s peso accounts.
He added that the court likewise denied a motion to suppress the bank records after Enrile explained that the purpose of the subpoena was to determine whether Corona had failed to declare the deposits in his SALN.
Diokno also recalled that then Senator-judge Francis Escudero, now the presiding officer of the Duterte impeachment trial, questioned during the Corona impeachment whether the Senate should consider only acts committed while Corona was serving as Chief Justice after observing that some documentary evidence predated his appointment.
According to Diokno, the issue was taken up in caucus, after which the impeachment court allowed the evidence to be admitted.
Diokno argued that the Corona impeachment demonstrated that the Senate may examine financial records covering periods before an official assumed the impeachable office when they are relevant to determining fitness for public office.
“The panel of prosecutors respectfully submits that the subpoenas for the production of the bank records, [AMLC] documents, and BIR documents of the Vice President and her husband are proper and should be issued by this Honorable Court,” Diokno said.
