Philippine Senate seeks V-P Sara Duterte’s bank, tax records in trial
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte is accused of threatening the life of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, misusing public funds and bribery.
PHOTO: AFP
- The Philippine Senate impeachment court will subpoena Vice-President Sara Duterte’s bank, tax, and Anti-Money Laundering Council records to investigate allegations of corruption and unexplained wealth.
- Prosecutors argue Duterte may be unfit for office due to billions in unexplained wealth accumulated since her time as vice-mayor, while her lawyers oppose probing financial records before she held impeachable office.
- Duterte faces charges including threatening the president’s life, misuse of public funds, and bribery, with conviction risking her removal and political ban, and acquittal boosting her 2028 presidential prospects.
AI generated
MANILA – The Philippine Senate impeachment court will subpoena the bank and tax records of Vice-President Sara Duterte as her opponents seek to oust the nation’s second-highest official on allegations that include corruption and unexplained wealth.
“The court finds that the requested documents meet the requirements set forth,” Senator Francis Escudero, who is presiding over Duterte’s impeachment trial, said in a televised ruling.
“They are reasonably described, readily identifiable, prima facie relevant and material to the allegations.”
Prosecutors have asked the court to order the release of Duterte’s bank, tax and Anti-Money Laundering Council records as they try to convince senator-judges that she has enriched herself while in public office and has failed to truthfully disclose her assets.
During the July 20 hearing, Representative Chel Diokno, one of the prosecutors, questioned Duterte’s fitness to hold public office.
“If that person amassed billions in unexplained wealth while serving as vice-mayor or mayor, I think that would have a very big impact on whether they should continue in office or whether they are fit to hold that position,” Diokno said.
Michael Poa, Duterte’s legal counsel, criticised the prosecution’s effort to scrutinise her financial transactions from 2007, when she was a vice-mayor and not yet an impeachable official.
“What that is is an unlimited search throughout a person’s financial history. That should not be allowed,” Poa said during the debate last week.
The court-approved subpoena excludes foreign currency deposits, unless Duterte and her spouse give their consent, Escudero said.
Duterte, the ally-turned-critic of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is accused by impeachment prosecutors of threatening Marcos’ life, misusing public funds and bribery.
She is facing ouster and perpetual disqualification from politics if convicted by two-thirds of the Senate.
An acquittal, meanwhile, will leave her as the front-runner for the 2028 presidential election.
The trial is now in its third week. BLOOMBERG