The Senate impeachment court has full constitutional authority to open the sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box containing tax documents linked to Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, her husband Atty. Manases Carpio, and their business interests.
House prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon made the statement as he defended the prosecution’s position on the handling of the sealed evidence, which was earlier raised during proceedings at the House Committee on Justice before being transmitted to the Senate impeachment court.
He argued that impeachment is a separate constitutional process and should not be bound by the same limitations applied to ordinary legislative inquiries involving sensitive tax records.
“Kumbaga, it doesn’t need ‘yung sinasabing exceptions doon sa code ng BIR para mabuksan po itong box na ito. Sapat na po ang kapangyarihan ng Senate impeachment court,” Ridon said.
According to him, the BIR had previously raised concerns during House proceedings, citing rules that typically govern disclosure of tax documents in legislative investigations and the need for executive session clearance.
“Ang sinasabi nila, kailangan daw ito through a legislative inquiry, at kailangan daw nasa executive session,” he said, recalling earlier objections.
However, Ridon said several lawmakers involved in the inquiry took the position that impeachment proceedings are not legislative inquiries but a distinct constitutional function of Congress acting as an impeachment court.
“Ang posisyon ng ilan sa mga miyembro ng komite, this is not a legislative inquiry. This is an entirely separate constitutional function—impeachment proceedings,” he added.
Ridon also said the subpoena issued to the BIR obligates the agency to produce the requested documents, which he believes are contained in the sealed box currently under the custody of the court.
“Ang subpoena is on the BIR to produce the documents,” he said.
He added that if BIR rules cited during the House proceedings do not apply to impeachment hearings at the House level, the same interpretation should extend to the Senate impeachment court.
“So kung hindi siya applicable doon, hindi rin siya applicable dito sa Senate impeachment court,” Ridon said, stressing the prosecution’s call to allow the opening of the box.
The lawmaker said there is nothing irregular in marking the sealed container itself as object evidence during pre-trial proceedings, noting that its evidentiary value lies in its contents.
“Wala hong unusual doon kasi object evidence naman po ‘yun,” he said.
Ridon also expressed confidence that the sealed box contains the tax records previously subpoenaed from the BIR, which he said are central to establishing the financial profile of the Vice President and her family’s business interests.
“I don’t think we have any doubt that what is contained within the box are BIR tax documents of the Duterte-Carpio couple and their businesses,” he said.