Rowegie Abanto

The Senate of the Philippines, sitting as an impeachment court, listens to the oral arguments presented by the House prosecution panel—led by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno—on the issuance of a subpoena to the Bureau of Internal Revenue to open a box containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte, during the sixth day of the impeachment proceedings on July 15, 2026.   Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP Sara Impeachment

Victoria Tulad

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178453575011720260715-senat-vp-sara-impeachment-day6-MT16.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Senate impeachment court. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span> MANILA (<strong>3r</strong><strong>d UPDATE</strong>) — The Senate impeachment court on Monday approved prosecutors&#x27; request to subpoena the financial records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband.</div><p>The prosecutors had asked the Senate court to subpoena Duterte and her husband&#x27;s bank and tax records and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) documents linked to them to back accusations in Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.</p><p>Article II alleges Duterte committed culpable violation of the constitution and betrayed public trust when she amassed unexplained wealth, failed to disclose all her and her spouse&#x27;s wealth, and failed to divest all her business interests during her tenure as vice president.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/15/diokno-duterte-bank-tax-records-impeachment-trial-1516">&#x27;Truth is not confidential&#x27;: Prosecution says VP Sara&#x27;s bank, tax records relevant to impeachment trial</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>BANK AND AMLC RECORDS</strong></div><p>Speaking for the court, presiding officer Francis Escudero said that the documents being requested from banking institutions and the AMLC were &quot;reasonably described, readily identifiable, and prima facie relevant and material to the allegations under Article II.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The request for subpoenas directed to the concerned banking institutions, covering the accounts of the Respondent, Atty. Manases Carpio, separately or jointly, the partnership of Carpio Lawyers, and the nineteen listed corporate entities, is granted,&quot; Escudero said.</p><p>He pointed out that this is not the first time that bank records are being examined in an impeachment trial, noting that the Senate granted the request of the prosecution for bank records during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.</p><p>He said the banks are ordered to submit to the clerk of court the documents on July 30, 2026 at 9 a.m. with the attendance of the parties&#x27; counsels.</p><p>He also granted the subpoena of AMLC documents covering Duterte, her husband, the partnership of Carpio and Lawyers, and 19 listed corporate entities.</p><p>To prevent &quot;the unwarranted exposure of sensitive AMLC methodologies,&quot; Escudero said, the agency is ordered to submit the records on July 30, 2026 at 9 a.m &quot;strictly in camera&quot; to the presiding officer through the clerk of court, &quot;who shall review these documents privately before turning them over to the parties, as may be warranted.&quot;</p><p>He said the subpoenas shall only apply to peso-denominated accounts relevant to Article II.</p><p>The request for the records of two firms allegedly linked to Duterte was meanwhile denied &quot;for failing to establish prima facie relevance,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/20/escudero-marcoleta-says-he-can-vote-in-impeachment-trial-while-detained-1858">Escudero: Marcoleta says he can vote in impeachment trial while detained</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>TAX DOCUMENTS</strong></div><p>Escudero also ruled that the documents in the request for subpoena of Duterte&#x27;s tax records were &quot;prima facie relevant and material to the allegations under Article II.&quot;</p><p>He stressed however that the subpoena of Duterte&#x27;s tax records was &quot;merely a preliminary procedural step and does not, by itself, authorize the disclosure, inspection, or admission of the requested tax records into evidence.&quot;</p><p>Section 71 of the National Internal Revenue Code states instances in which the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) may disclose one&#x27;s tax records, and one of which is following the approval of the president.</p><p>The issuance of the subpoena for the vice president&#x27;s tax records, Escudero said, &quot;is the order that shall set things in motion.&quot;</p><p>He noted that the BIR commissioner may refuse compliance or comply with the order by invoking any of the exceptions under the tax code.</p><p>&quot;Without a satisfactory showing of faithful compliance with any of the exceptions, this court shall not receive any subpoenaed records from the BIR. Similar to what was done with <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/6/impeachment-court-summons-nbi-agents-sends-back-bir-box-1818">the sealed green box ordered by this Court to be returned to them</a>,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/15/defense-says-subpoena-for-duterte-bank-tax-records-a-weapon-of-fishing-expedition-1531">Defense says subpoena for Duterte bank, tax records a &#x27;weapon of fishing expedition&#x27;</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>PERIOD OF COVERAGE</strong></div><p> The presiding officer denied the Duterte defense objection to the 2007 to 2021 period requested by the prosecution for the vice president&#x27;s bank, tax and AMLC documents.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s lawyers have argued that the vice president should only be investigated for her alleged offenses during her tenure as vice president when she became an impeachable officer. </p><p>The prosecution however argued that a comprehensive review of Duterte&#x27;s records, which goes beyond her vice presidency, is needed to evaluate her integrity as public official.</p><p>In granting the prosecution&#x27;s plea, Escudero said that the requested documents won&#x27;t be used to allege additional impeachable offenses.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/20/full-text-impeachment-court-s-bir-amlc-subpoenas-for-duterte-financial-records-1854">FULL TEXT: Impeachment court subpoenas BIR, AMLC for Duterte financial records</a></div><p>He said the Senate court will only allow records &quot;to be used to establish a factual baseline against which the Respondent&#x27;s assets, financial transactions, and business interests during her present term may be assessed.&quot;</p><p>Before Escudero ruled on the plea, House prosecutor Chel Diokno clarified that their request only covers the summoning of the documents and that their admissibility as evidence before the court has yet to be tackled.</p><p>But defense counsel Michael Poa maintained that the requested documents were irrelevant to the case and that the petition amounted to a &quot;fishing expedition.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/20/padilla-ombudsman-dela-rosa-escape-tulfo-1419">Tulfo says impeachment court shouldn&#x27;t be used to &#x27;defend ourselves&#x27;</a></div><p>Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Carlito Martin Mendoza will be subpoenaed to appear with Duterte’s tax records on July 30.</p><p>Mendoza is expected to secure an authorization from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to open Duterte’s tax records in public, Impeachment Court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>WATCH:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QXC6xin-A78?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w2ukcVuDOYQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Senate impeachment court on Monday approved to subpoena the financial records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband.</p>

The Senate impeachment court on Monday approved to subpoena the financial records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband.

Senate impeachment court grants subpoena for Duterte financial records

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Senate impeachment court grants subpoena for Duterte financial records

Rowegie Abanto,

Victoria Tulad,

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 20, 2026 05:30 PM PHT

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Updated July 20, 2026 08:09 PM PHT

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Sara Duterte

Impeachment Trial

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