Philippine Senate Impeachment Court Admits Sara Duterte's Financial Records as Evidence; Defence Opens on November 9
MANILA — The Philippine Senate impeachment court announced on November 6 that it has admitted bank, tax, corporate and property records as evidence in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, while barring the use of evidence relating to charges that prosecutors have withdrawn. The ruling sets the boundaries for the one remaining charge, alleged unexplained wealth, ahead of the trial's resumption on November 9, when the defence is scheduled to begin presenting its evidence.
Court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said Presiding Officer and Senate President Francis Escudero issued a 22-page order on November 5 resolving the prosecution's formal offer of documentary evidence under Article II. The admitted records include Duterte's statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) and documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, the Securities and Exchange Commission and nine banks, as well as land titles in Davao City and the Island Garden City of Samal, insurance and investment records and firearms certifications. Most of forensic accounting expert Alexander Cabrera's report was also admitted; prosecutors cite it in alleging at least 817.87 million pesos in undeclared assets and unexplained wealth held by Duterte and her husband. The court rejected the defence's general objection that subpoenaed documents amounted to a fishing expedition or were inadmissible because they were not attached to the original complaint, but limited the use of financial records from 2007 to 2021 to establishing Duterte's financial position before she assumed the vice presidency on June 30, 2022.
The court excluded all Commission on Audit disallowance records relating to confidential funds under the withdrawn Article I, and stressed that admitting a document does not establish the truth of the prosecution's allegations; the weight of each exhibit will be assessed by the senator-judges at the end of the trial. In a separate order, the court restored the sub judice restriction across all impeachment articles, including the three prosecutors withdrew on October 13, barring the parties from publicly debating the merits of the dropped charges while Article II, the sole remaining charge, is tried. (Source: Philippine News Agency)
Source: Philippine News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾中央银行（BSP）巴科洛德大楼。摄影：Herbertkikoy，CC BY-SA 4.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons / Photo: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) building in Bacolod. Photo by Herbertkikoy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
