Senate impeachment court sets July 15 hearing on VP Sara Duterte tax records

The Senate impeachment court has scheduled oral arguments for July 15 on the House prosecution panel's request to subpoena the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio, and businesses linked to them.

Impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero announced the schedule on Wednesday, the third day of Duterte's impeachment trial.

Escudero directed both the prosecution and defense panels to submit their memoranda on the request for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) records by Monday, July 13.

"We will also schedule the oral arguments for deciding on this issue, together with the bank records, on Wednesday," Escudero said.

"Each party will be given 10 minutes, without prejudice to a three-minute rebuttal by each side before the court decides," he added.

Both the prosecution and defense panels said they would comply with the order.

The Duterte couple's tax records have become a contentious issue in the impeachment trial after the House prosecution sought to obtain them as evidence. The defense, meanwhile, argued that the documents were improperly obtained through a subpoena issued during the House's impeachment proceedings.

The impeachment court has yet to rule on whether it will issue its own subpoena compelling the BIR to produce the records.

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said the 10-minute oral arguments would be sufficient for both sides to present their legal positions.

"Pagdating sa oral arguments, ire-reiterate na lang nila 'yung pinakaimportanteng parte ng kanilang memorandum para sa ating publiko naman," Tongol said during a press conference.

(During the oral arguments, they will simply reiterate the most important parts of their memoranda for the benefit of the public.)

Tongol said the oral arguments would also allow the public to better understand the parties' respective positions.

"'Yung oral arguments ay magpapakita ng kanilang mga posisyon regarding the issue at ito ay mapapakita sa publiko dahil mahahayag ito through television at saka televised video," he said.

(The oral arguments will present the parties' respective positions on the issue, which the public can watch through television broadcasts and live video.)

The House prosecution panel earlier asked the impeachment court to order the BIR to produce an expanded set of tax records covering Duterte, Carpio, and businesses linked to them.

The request came after the impeachment court ordered the return to the BIR of a sealed box containing the couple's tax records, which had been obtained through a subpoena issued by the House prosecution panel during its impeachment proceedings.

The sealed green box containing the tax records of Duterte and Carpio was returned to the BIR on Tuesday. — MCG, GMA News