The House prosecution panel has renewed its request for the impeachment court to allow the supervised opening of a sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box containing Vice President Sara Duterte’s tax documents.
Prosecutors said the move is intended to facilitate the identification and marking of documents ahead of the formal impeachment trial, which is set to begin on July 6.
House impeachment spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the request is not aimed at immediately admitting the contents as evidence, but at ensuring an orderly pre-trial process.
“This is the proper time, this is the proper venue, and in the interest of justice, let us open the box,” Adiong said during a Zoom briefing.
He added that the prosecution has formally asked the impeachment court to authorize the supervised opening of the sealed box, which contains tax documents of the Vice President listed as reserve evidence by both parties.
“Hindi natin po hinihingi agad-agad na ma-admit ang mga ebidensya na ito. Ang hinihingi po ng prosecution ay supervised opening upang makita ang mga dokumento at mamarkahan ang mga ito,” he said.
The prosecution said opening the box under court supervision would streamline the marking of evidence and avoid delays once trial proceedings begin.
Prosecutors also said the tax records are relevant to allegations involving unexplained wealth and possible inconsistencies in the Vice President’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
They further argued that impeachment proceedings fall under recognized exceptions to the confidentiality of tax information, making judicial review of the documents permissible within the context of the case.
The panel said the request is procedural in nature and would not pre-empt the admissibility of the documents during the formal trial.