Bantay Senado backs subpoena Duterte bank, tax records

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Bantay Senado, a non-partisan citizens’ monitoring network for the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, on July 15 called on the Senator-Judges to support the disclosure of the Vice President’s bank, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) records, saying the law and the Constitution already settle the question.

The group made the appeal during its second Impeachment TamBayanan community watch party at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Diliman, Quezon City, which gathered parishioners, community leaders and citizen-volunteers to monitor the day’s trial proceedings.

“Accountability cannot depend on the voluntary cooperation of the official under trial. Public office is a public trust, and an impeachment court must have access to evidence necessary to determine whether that trust has been betrayed,” said Prof. Cleve V. Arguelles, convenor and spokesperson of Bantay Senado.

“Denying access to such records risks weakening impeachment as a constitutional accountability mechanism, and it sets a dangerous precedent that future officials facing impeachment can simply shield crucial evidence from scrutiny. We urge the Senator-Judges to support full disclosure,” Arguelles added.

The watch party coincided with the sixth day of the impeachment trial, where no witnesses were presented as the prosecution and defense instead delivered oral arguments on whether the court should subpoena Duterte’s bank and tax records.

House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno urged the Senate impeachment court to issue subpoenas for the financial records of Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, arguing the documents are essential to determining whether the Vice President betrayed public trust and violated the Constitution.

Diokno said the requested records would help establish the allegations under Article II of the impeachment complaint: that Duterte amassed wealth grossly disproportionate to her lawful income, failed to declare assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, and engaged in business while serving as Vice President despite the constitutional prohibition. He also pointed out that the Bank Secrecy Law expressly recognizes impeachment as an exception to the confidentiality of bank deposits.

Defense counsel Michael Poa countered that the subpoena requests were overbroad and amounted to a fishing expedition, arguing that requests covering nearly two decades of financial records failed the legal requirements of definiteness and relevance. Poa also questioned the request for Carpio’s records, noting he is a private citizen who does not hold an impeachable office.

Following the oral arguments, the senator-judges went into a caucus to deliberate on the subpoena request, with presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero declaring a recess at 3:24 p.m.

During the open forum at the watch party, a parishioner said Duterte must allow the Impeachment Court to scrutinize her bank and tax records because public office is a public trust.

Bantay Senado reiterated its call for a trial that is transparent, accessible and grounded in evidence — one where every piece of relevant evidence, including financial and tax records, is made available to the Court in service of truth and accountability.

Bantay Senado is a flagship initiative of Team Pinas Foundation and currently counts more than 500 registered volunteers across the Philippines.