Luistro: Petition to block House access to ITR now moot

House Justice Committee Chairperson Gerville Luistro said Monday that she believes the petition filed by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband to prevent the House Justice panel from obtaining and disclosing their income tax returns is already moot.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Luistro said the ITR had already been submitted to the committee during the April 14 hearing.

“Definitely, from my perspective, to stop the BIR from submitting the ITR to the Justice Committee is already moot and academic because it has already been submitted,” she said.

Lawyer Manases Carpio filed the petition before a Quezon City Regional Trial Court on April 13, citing alleged violations of the Data Privacy Act and their rights.

He and his lawyers argued that the subpoena issued by the House panel—directing Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Charlie Mendoza to testify and submit copies of the tax returns of Carpio, the Vice President, and their linked businesses—was “exceedingly overstretched.”

She noted that Duterte’s term began only on June 30, 2022.

Luistro said the ITR will be formally presented during the panel’s April 22 hearing.

“This will be the time when the commissioner of the BIR will be presented. So we will be hearing from the commissioner about the ITR,” she said.

She added that the BIR had flagged possible limitations on the disclosure of the document.

“I understand that this is likewise a public document. However, we have limitations concerning confidentiality. I think this is the concern of our BIR Commissioner," Luistro said.

"We have not discussed this thoroughly yet, but I anticipate hearing the position of the BIR,” she added.

Meanwhile, Luistro clarified that the subpoenas issued by the panel were for reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), not for bank records or bank officials.

On Wednesday, the panel is set to tackle allegations of unexplained wealth against the Vice President using AMLC reports.

“We did not subpoena bank records. We did not subpoena bank employees. We did not subpoena bank officials. What we subpoenaed are AMLC reports and the AMLC,” she said.

Luistro said the panel requested AMLC reports on covered and suspicious transactions.

“Covered transactions refer to amounts of P500,000 and above. Suspicious transactions, regardless of the amount, are those where the AMLC has basis to require a report from banks,” she said.

“This will focus merely on the report to be submitted by the AMLC.”—MCG, GMA News