BATANGAS Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro said Wednesday the House Committee on Justice is entering the “territory of forensic truth” in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, with the next phase centered on statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records rather than oral testimony.
Luistro, chair of the House panel hearing the impeachment complaints, said the April 22 hearing is a turning point from witness-based testimony to a document-and-data confrontation over the vice president’s alleged unexplained wealth.
“Today, we expect further evidence from the Office of the Ombudsman, from the BIR, from the SEC, and especially from the AMLC,” Luistro, a lawyer, said.
“We also anticipate testimonies that will help contextualize the data before us, including from former Senator [Antonio] Trillanes,” she added.
She said the hearing was moving into a phase where the committee would study records that are harder to spin and harder to evade.
“Kung mapapansin ninyo, ang pag-uusapan natin ngayon ay mga numero, SALN, tax records from the BIR, and reports from the AMLC. This is the part where the numbers have to be studied, compared, and analyzed,” Luistro said.
Luistro stressed that this stage of the proceedings would test discrepancies through hard records, not competing narratives.
“And numbers, unlike people, do not have motives. Numbers do not lie,” she stressed.
She then sharpened the point by saying the committee was no longer dealing with opinion or messaging but with facts that either line up or fall apart.
“At dito po nagiging mas mabigat ang usapan. Because when we speak of numbers, we are no longer dealing with opinion, spin, or narrative, we are confronting cold, unyielding facts,” she said.
“Hindi ito napapakiusapan. Hindi ito natatakot. Hindi ito napipilit magsinungaling. A number either matches, or it does not,” she continued.
Luistro said the stakes are heavier because the figures under review involve public money entrusted by taxpayers who expect every peso to be used lawfully.
“At higit sa lahat, hindi po ito basta numero lamang, pera ito ng taumbayan. Pera ito ng manggagawang Pilipino na araw-araw kumakayod, ng pamilyang nagtitipid para makabayad ng buwis, ng bawat Pilipinong umaasa na ang kanilang ambag ay napupunta sa tama,” she stated.
“A peso is either accounted for, or it is missing,” she added.
She said that once the SALN, BIR and AMLC records are laid side by side, they begin to tell a story that no press conference or diversion can erase.
“At kapag pinagsama-sama ang mga numerong ito, mula sa SALN, sa BIR, at sa AMLC, they begin to tell a story no press conference can rewrite, no diversion can erase,” she said.
“Because numbers, once laid bare, speak with a clarity that cuts through noise, and when they point to a discrepancy, they do not whisper. They demand to be answered,” Luistro explained.
She also delivered one of the sharpest lines of the speech by saying that if the vice president will not speak before the committee, the numbers will do the talking for her.
“Kung ayaw magsalita ng tao, kung ayaw humarap ng bise presidente, hayaan natin na ang mga numero ang magkwento,” she said.
Luistro said the committee would follow the evidence wherever it leads and would not be distracted by arguments made outside the hearing room.
“At ang direksyon natin ngayon ay simple, ngunit matibay: we follow the evidence, wherever it leads. Hindi tayo magpapadala sa ingay. Hindi tayo lilihis sa proseso.”
She closed by underscoring that even if the vice president’s chair remained empty, the questions raised by the evidence were very much present in the room.
“Let the evidence speak. Let the numbers testify. Let the chips fall where they may. And let us, finally, resume this hearing,” Luistro said.
