House prosecutors may no longer pursue efforts to unseal the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte during her Senate impeachment trial if existing evidence proves sufficient to secure a conviction, according to Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon.
Ridon, a member of the House prosecution panel, revealed that the team is still weighing whether to formally request access to Duterte’s Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) documents. He emphasized that the tax files are meant to bolster, rather than define, the core impeachment case.
“It is not the central evidence. It’s supporting evidence… Even if we don’t open the BIR box, we can still make the case,” Ridon said during a television interview on Bilyonaryo News Channel.
The lawmaker explained that public prosecutors will finalize their strategy during the pre-trial stage. The decision to push for the unsealing of Duterte’s income tax records will depend on the assessed strength of other evidence already on hand, such as bank documents and reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
“By pre-trial, we will also have to decide whether to actually pursue the unsealing because if we’re confident that we can do it with only the SALN and with the bank documents, bank accounts, and AMLC reports, maybe we shouldn’t do that,” he said.
During the initial House proceedings, the BIR blocked the Committee on Justice from opening a box containing the income tax returns of the Vice President and her husband, Atty. Mans Carpio. The bureau argued that such records could only be disclosed in aid of legislation and within confidential executive sessions.
However, Ridon maintained that the prosecution has always believed the tax records could legally be produced before both chambers of Congress. He argued that the legislature issues an order for submission rather than a mere request, and that tax records should be treated as public documents transmissible during impeachment proceedings.
“We are ordering the BIR to produce the document so that we can see it. Hopefully, at the level of the trial, that will be the same understanding of the Senate,” Ridon said. “We will respect the refusal,” he added, acknowledging the possibility of continued BIR resistance.
While the issue is expected to trigger intense legal debates during the Senate trial due to strict statutory tax confidentiality, Ridon noted that the final decision rests on the impeachment court.
“Ultimately, it will still be dependent on the senator-judges as to whether both will be opened,” he concluded.