MANILA — Prosecutors in the Philippine Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte defended their request on Wednesday for subpoenas compelling the production of her bank, tax and related financial records, arguing the documents are essential to determining whether allegations contained in the articles of impeachment are supported by evidence.
During oral arguments before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, House prosecutor Chel Diokno said the tribunal has the constitutional authority to require the production of financial records that the prosecution says are relevant to allegations of unexplained wealth, undeclared assets and prohibited business interests while in office. He argued that no law limits the impeachment court's authority to obtain evidence necessary to decide the case.
Diokno also argued that the country's Bank Secrecy Law contains an exception for impeachment proceedings, contending that the defense could not invoke the statute to prevent disclosure of records sought by prosecutors. He told the senator-judges that the requested documents were indispensable to proving allegations contained in Article II of the impeachment complaint.
Lawyer Michael Poa, representing Duterte, opposed the request, describing it as an impermissible "fishing expedition." He argued the subpoenas sought broad categories of records in the hope of uncovering incriminating evidence rather than obtaining documents tied to specific, established claims. The defense also maintained that constitutional and statutory protections governing financial and tax records should not be set aside without sufficient legal justification.
The proceedings marked the sixth day of Duterte's impeachment trial. No witnesses testified, with the Senate instead dedicating the session to arguments over whether subpoenas should be issued for bank records, Bureau of Internal Revenue documents and records held by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
The dispute follows an earlier decision by Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero to return an unopened box containing tax records to the Bureau of Internal Revenue after ruling the court had not yet lawfully taken custody of the documents. Prosecutors subsequently renewed their request for subpoenas through the impeachment court.
After hearing both sides, the senator-judges recessed to deliberate on the motions rather than ruling immediately. According to reports from the proceedings, the impeachment court decided to continue studying the requests, with further action expected at a subsequent session.
