Prosecution: Sara Duterte's pushback on opening financial records sparks questions

The House prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte views the defense camp's resistance to opening her financial records as a move that raises serious questions.

“Kung gusto po talagang patunayan na ang amounts ng bank records nila… nitong period na ito ay hindi ganyan kalaki, hindi ho ba e dapat sila mismo nga ang magpakita nitong mga bank records nila?” House prosecution panel member and spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa said Sunday in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(If they truly want to prove that the amounts in their bank records during this period are not that high, shouldn’t they be the ones volunteering to present these records themselves?)

“So ‘yung fact na talagang pinipigilan nila na lumabas ito, meron hong malaking katanungan talaga ‘yan na pinapakita sa atin,” he added.

(So the mere fact that they are actively preventing this from coming out raises a big question for all of us.)

During the sixth day of the impeachment trial on July 15, Duterte's defense team urged the Senate court to reject the prosecution's request for subpoenas for the Vice President's bank and tax records.

The impeachment court deferred its decision until the trial resumes on Monday, July 20.

Tolosa said the prosecution team is confident that the impeachment court will grant their request.

“Nananalig ho kami na mapagbibigyan ’yan dahil malakas naman po yung basehan ng aming request para ipa-subpoena itong mga dokumentong ito,” Tolosa said.

(We are confident that this will be granted because we have strong grounds for our request to subpoena these documents.)

He pointed out that the law exempts the impeachment court from bank secrecy laws and grants it access to Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records, noting that the agency is even permitted to share information with its foreign counterparts.

Tolosa reiterated that the Vice President’s bank records are among the strongest pieces of evidence to prove whether her bank accounts during the period in question match the wealth declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

The strongest, but not the only evidence

According to Tolosa, Duterte's financial records will be presented as evidence for the articles of impeachment concerning unexplained wealth and the untruthful declaration of her SALN.

However, even though they consider the records to be among their strongest pieces of evidence, Tolosa said that the articles of impeachment will still stand on the strength of their other evidence.

“Well, hindi naman po nakasalalay sa isang ebidensya lamang ang ating articles of impeachment. So, meron pa tayong ibang testimonya and documentary evidence,” Tolosa said.

(Well, our articles of impeachment do not rely on a single piece of evidence alone. We still have other testimonies and documentary evidence.)

“Pero ganon pa man, talagang ipaglalaban namin na maipresenta itong mga dokumento na ‘to dahil ito ho yung pamamaraan para makita ng impeachment court at ng buong bayan ‘yung katotohanan patungkol sa magkano ba talaga ang yaman ng bise presidente noong panahon na nakaupo siya bilang lingkod-bayan versus magkano lang ang kaniyang na-declare sa kanyang SALN,” he maintained.

(But regardless, we will really fight to present these documents because this is the way for the impeachment court and the entire nation to see the truth regarding the actual wealth of the Vice President during her time as a public servant, versus what she merely declared in her SALN.)

Tolosa recalled the big disparity in Duterte’s P80 million declared wealth compared to the P6.7 billion reflected on AMLC records.

During a House committee hearing in April, the AMLC revealed that P6.7 billion in covered and suspicious bank transactions were linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. — BM, GMA News