THE House prosecution panel is looking forward to the unprecedented disclosure of the bank and tax records of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and her husband, saying the documents will give the nation its first direct look at the couple’s financial records.
House prosecutor Terry L. Ridon said the subpoenaed records would allow the Senate impeachment court, the prosecution and the public to examine for the first time the bank accounts and tax documents of Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, and companies linked to them.
“This will be the first time that the nation will see, that the prosecution will see, and the court will see, kung ano ho ’yung itsura po ng mga banko ng mag-asawang Duterte-Carpio at ng kanilang mga kumpanya,” Ridon said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
“’Yun pong tax records, this will also be the first time that all of us will see it. So tingnan muna natin by July 30, ano po ’yung mga numero na makikita po doon,” he added.
Ridon said the tax records would show the couple’s total income after taxes, which the prosecution plans to compare with Duterte’s declared net worth in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), the financial transactions reported by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and the amounts reflected in the subpoenaed bank records.
He said the bank records, meanwhile, would corroborate the AMLC’s findings by allowing the prosecution to examine the actual accounts behind the reported transactions.
The AMLC earlier reported about P6.7 billion in alleged total transactions involving the Duterte-Carpio couple over nearly two decades, including P4.4 billion in inflows into their bank accounts.
The Senate Impeachment Court earlier granted the prosecution’s request to subpoena the bank records of Duterte, Carpio and several companies, as well as their tax records from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Ridon said the prosecution expects the AMLC and bank records to be submitted to the impeachment court by July 30, while the release of the BIR documents remains subject to the Senate impeachment court’s requirement for presidential approval.
The subpoenaed records form part of the prosecution’s evidence on the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth and are expected to be presented before the Senate impeachment court as the trial proceeds.
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