House prosecutors seek opening of BIR box with Sara Duterte’s tax records at pre-trial

MANILA, Philippines – The House prosecution team has asked the Senate impeachment court to open the sealed box containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio, for marking as evidence during Duterte’s impeachment pre-trial conference.

On the fourth day of the pre-trial on Wednesday, June 24, House prosecutor and Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima said the prosecution had filed a manifestation before the Senate impeachment court seeking the opening of the Bureau of Internal Revenue box that was submitted to the House justice panel during its impeachment deliberations.

The House justice committee previously decided against opening the box containing the couple’s tax records due to legal concerns.

De Lima said opening the box at this stage could help expedite the impeachment proceedings by allowing the documents to be marked and identified early in the process.

“Since we’re in the marking of exhibits, this is the proper stage to open it so that an inventory can be made of the contents of that particular BIR box,” De Lima said in a mix of English and Filipino in a press briefing on Wednesday.

De Lima said the decision to open the box during the pre-trial will depend on the decision of the Senate impeachment court or its presiding officer, Senate President Win Gatchalian.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa declined to comment on the prosecution’s request, as well as on other manifestations made by the members of the House of Representatives. He said the defense will issue its formal response soon.

The House prosecution also asked the court to allow at least two designated prosecutors — one from the public prosecution panel and one from the private prosecution team — to participate in the examination of witnesses.

In the same manifestation, the prosecution proposed both Filipino and English to be used during the proceedings.

The prosecution also agreed to disclose its intended witnesses at least three days ahead of their scheduled appearance before the court.

“Reciprocal advance disclosure will promote fairness, reduce avoidable surprise, allow meaningful preparation for examination and cross-examination, and minimize requests for postponement that may unnecessarily prolong the proceedings,” the House prosecution said in its manifestation.

Extended hours

The volume of documentary evidence has also prompted the Senate impeachment court to extend pre-trial working hours by two hours. This would mean that instead of 9 am to 5 pm, the pre-trial conference will stretch until 7 pm.

During the closed-door pre-trial, the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s defense lawyers discuss and mark evidence, identify possible witnesses, set trial dates, stipulate facts, and propose the order in which evidence will be presented.

The pre-trial is tedious in terms of the paperwork. De Lima said after the documents are reviewed, they are signed by the Senate clerk of court and then countersigned by both the House prosecution and defense teams.

To speed up the proceedings, the prosecution added two more evidence-marking teams on Wednesday, bringing the total to six from four. Four teams are assigned to Article I (Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds), while two are assigned to Article II (Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth in relation to her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth).

De Lima still hoped to finish the documentary evidence in relation to the two articles of impeachment by Thursday, June 25.

In total, there are four articles of impeachment. The documentary evidence for the two articles — alleged bribery in the Department of Education and an alleged assassination threat against the Marcos family —had abeen completed.

The last day of the pre-trial conference is supposed to be on Thursday. Earlier on, the House prosecution had already expressed concern about time management, given the voluminous documents being processed. – Rappler.com