THE House prosecution panel has received from the Senate impeachment court copies of the bank and tax records of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, her husband and their companies, completing what it described as the “last important pillar” of evidence for the unexplained wealth charge against the country’s second-highest official.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, who leads the prosecution team handling the charge under Article II, said Thursday the impeachment court furnished the documents to the prosecution Wednesday after the 21st day of Duterte’s trial.
“Sa mga susunod pong mga araw, pag-aaralan at bubusisiin po namin ’yung lahat po ng mga dokumentong ito. At ito po ’yung nagko-constitute ng last important pillar ng mga ebidensya na gagamitin para sa unexplained wealth article,” Ridon said during a press briefing.
Ridon, chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said the documents include bank information sought on Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, and their companies, along with their tax records.
The impeachment court had earlier subpoenaed the documents after finding that those sought by the prosecution were prima facie relevant and material to the impeachment proceedings.
The submissions include documents from six banks and Bureau of Internal Revenue records covering Duterte, Carpio and companies linked to the couple.
Ridon said his team will scrutinize the documents to determine whether they support the allegations against Duterte.
“Pag-aaralan po namin ang lahat po ng bank accounts at tax documents ni Vice President Sara Duterte, ng kanya pong asawa, at ng kanya pong mga kumpanya para makita po natin kung magko-constitute ba itong mga ebidensya na ito para patunayan ’yun pong mga alegasyon sa unexplained wealth article po, which would constitute betrayal of public trust,” he said.
Prosecutors intend to examine the bank and tax documents alongside Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to determine whether her assets and financial transactions can be reconciled with her declared and legitimate sources of income.
Ridon said the unexplained wealth team is already preparing to present its evidence once the prosecution completes its current presentation on Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
“Pero as far as the unexplained wealth team is concerned, naghahanda na po kami para pagpasok po ng gitna o hanggang dulo noon pong Setyembre, pwede na po kami maglatag ng ebidensya sa Senate impeachment court,” he said.
The prosecution is also weighing whether to proceed with Article III on alleged bribery or move directly to Article II in a bid to shorten its presentation of evidence.
Ridon said no final decision has been made, with the prosecution expected to decide by the time it wraps up its confidential fund presentation within the next one to two weeks.
“Speaking as the lead of unexplained wealth, tingin namin mas compelling ’yung charges ng unexplained wealth, but not to say na hindi mahalaga ’yung charges under bribery,” he said.
Ridon also said the prosecution considers the evidence already presented on the first two charges it has taken up — Article IV involving alleged threats and Article I involving confidential funds — sufficient.
“’Yun pong first two articles, tingin ko sapat na sapat na po ’yung mga ebidensya na inilatag po ng prosecution doon,” he said.
He noted that conviction on any one Article of Impeachment is sufficient to remove an impeached official from office.
Article II accuses Duterte of betrayal of public trust for allegedly accumulating unexplained wealth grossly disproportionate to her legitimate income and failing to fully disclose her assets in her SALN.
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