House Deputy Minority Leader Chel Diokno, prosecution panel member —Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta \| INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines – The Senate impeachment court’s order to subpoena the financial and tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte will be a “big step forward” in presenting evidence for the second article of impeachment filed against her, which involves unexplained wealth.
House Deputy Minority Leader Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, a House prosecutor, issued that statement on Tuesday.
“‘What happened yesterday, in our view, is a big step forward insofar as the prosecution of Article II on unexplained wealth is concerned,” Diokno said in Filipino during a press conference.
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READ: Diokno: Senate subpoena on Duterte finance docs a ‘victory’ for people
Only the beginning
“But I also want to stress that this is a developing story. This isn’t over because it’s actually just the beginning of our preparation for the documents that will be produced on July 30,” Diokno said.
On Monday, the impeachment court approved most of the prosecution’s subpoena requests covering Duterte’s bank and tax records, Anti-Money Laundering Council documents, and records of companies in which she and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, hold financial interests.
The court declined to include foreign currency-denominated accounts and excluded two of the 21 corporations identified by the prosecution.
Diokno emphasized that the ruling merely compelled the production of the requested documents and should not be taken as a determination that they were already admissible as evidence.
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“As we mentioned yesterday, we are not yet at the point that we’re talking about admissibility of evidence,” he said.
“What we only wanted with our request for subpoena was for the specified documents to be brought here,” he added.
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VP’s complete financial picture
According to Diokn, the issue of admissibility will be taken up only after the prosecution formally offers the documents as evidence when it begins presenting its case on the unexplained wealth article.
Lawyer Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., legal spokesperson and counsel for the House prosecutors, said the Senate’s action represented an important victory for truth and accountability.
“This showed in one impeachment proceeding that the truth was not guessed and much less hidden. This is examined carefully and proved using evidence,” Tolosa said in Filipino.
The subpoenaed documents would allow prosecutors to present what they believe is the vice president’s complete financial picture when the Senate takes up the unexplained wealth article, he said.
READ: Calm Chel Diokno says decades of litigation, teaching law helps
“We will have the opportunity to see the whole wealth of the vice president. And this is very valuable with respect to the article on unexplained wealth,” Tolosa said.
Before reaching that stage, however, Diokno said the prosecution would first conclude its presentation of evidence on the article involving Duterte’s alleged threats before proceeding to the charge involving the alleged misuse of confidential funds.
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“Let’s wait for the next chapter. Many things will happen before we reach unexplained wealth. We will be dealing with, of course, today the threats article and then tomorrow we start with the confidential funds,” he said. /atm