Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

Marilyn Cahatol

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has provided context to a video clip of him appearing to have said that the prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s impeachment case only asked to subpoena financial records in case they can find evidence against her.</p><p>Sen. Pia Cayetano, a judge in the trial and one of five lawyers at the 24-seat Senate, posted a one-minute video of Diokno — a member of the House prosecution — from the oral arguments related to the prosecution’s requests to subpoena the bank and tax records of Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio.</p><p>The video posted on Cayetano&#x27;s Facebook page also features captions saying “Nagbabasakali lng (Just in case)?” and “Walang mga ebidensya pero nag aakusa na (No evidence but already making accusations)!”</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<br/></a></div><p>The video has raised questions on potential biases of the senator-judges, some of whom have already been labeled on social media as being aligned with either the defense or prosecution.</p><p>Diokno, in a Saturday post, clarified that the phrases shown in the video were from his explanation of what a “<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">fishing expedition</a>”. He had also explained that the subpoena requests are for specific accounts and had explanations on why they are needed in the trial.</p><p>“With all due respect to the senator-judge at para hindi maligaw ang publiko, ito po ang konteksto at kumpleto na sinabi ko: ‘(Ang fishing expedition) ay maaaring sabihin nating nangyari kung only if the party requesting the evidence or documents ay nagbabakasakali lang, baka may makuha tayo dito,’” Diokno said.</p><p>(With all due respect to the senator-judge and so as not to confuse the public, this is the context and my full statement: ‘We can say that a fishing expedition happened only if the party requesting the evidence or documents is trying its luck to get something.)</p><p>Diokno clarified that the requests were based on “probable cause” shown in the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s records on Duterte and her husband’s accounts. </p><p>Under the law, banks are required to inform the AMLC of transactions that involve more than P500,000 in a single banking day and those that are &quot;suspicious&quot; or unusual. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/25/house-prosecutor-urges-vp-sara-to-personally-appear-at-impeachment-trial-1505">House prosecutor urges VP Sara to personally appear at impeachment trial</a></div><p>He said the requested bank records were to cross-verify the AMLC reports. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CAYETANO QUIZZES DIOKNO AT ORAL ARGUMENTS</strong></div><p>Cayetano, in questions to Diokno last Monday, had also asked whether the prohibition on &quot;general warrants&quot; and the principle that evidence seized through an unconstitutional warrant is inadmissible applies to the subpoenas being asked for.</p><p>Diokno said subpoenas have a &quot;very different&quot; context since they do not authorize entering and searching premises, but only compel that documents be produced.</p><p>He said that for subpoenas to be valid, the tax, bank and Anti-Money Laundering Council records being asked for must be relevant and material to the trial, which he also said they were.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/22/what-is-stonehill-vs-diokno-1417">What is Stonehill vs Diokno?</a></div><p>&quot;Kailangan buksan para makita (We need to open the records so we can see),&quot; he said, adding the prosecution had listed particular documents and included an explanation on why they are necessary. </p><p>Cayetano, who had cited a Supreme Court case involving the congressman&#x27;s father, said the two are both &quot;invasive&quot; and seem to be &quot;extremely parallel&quot; and &quot;very similar.&quot;</p><p>Diokno said then that the prosecution believes the subpoenas are &quot;not in any way invasive&quot; since &quot;we are only having those documents produced.&quot;</p><p>He also said that House hearings on the impeachment complaints against Duterte were to determine whether to go to trial. </p><p>He also said the proper time to seek the subpoenas for the records are during trial and that the proper body to issue them is the Senate impeachment court.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>AKBAYAN &#x27;SADDENED&#x27; AT POST</strong></div><p>Akbayan Party-List meanwhile said it was &quot;saddened&quot; to see such content from a senator-judge.</p><p>They said it was improper for one to &quot;troll the prosecution.&quot;</p><p>The party-list also noted the post was aligned with the talking points used by Duterte and her allies as they twitted the senator for &quot;relying on a spliced video.&quot;</p><p>The impeachment court on Monday <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/20/impeachment-court-subpoenas-duterte-bank-records-1730">granted the prosecution’s requests to issue subpoenas </a>for Duterte and Carpio’s records from several banks and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. It also granted the request to subpoena AMLC records on the couple.</p><p>Diokno said the prosecution and defense can use the documents to support their arguments.</p><p>Duterte’s bank and tax records are potential evidence for the second article of impeachment, which accused the vice president of amassing unexplained wealth.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8bgrbBMz_8Q?si=BAM-b2LFW2Yy4toY" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div>

<p>Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has provided context to a video clip of him appearing to have said that the prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case only asked to subpoena financial records in case they can find evidence against her.</p>

Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has provided context to a video clip of him appearing to have said that the prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case only asked to subpoena financial records in case they can find evidence against her.

Diokno provides context for 'fishing expedition' clip on Pia Cayetano's FB page

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Diokno provides context for 'fishing expedition' clip on Pia Cayetano's FB page

Marilyn Cahatol,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 26, 2026 12:15 PM PHT

|

Updated July 26, 2026 12:36 PM PHT

Read More:

Chel Diokno

Pia Cayetano

impeachment trial

Sara Duterte

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