Sara Duterte trial recap, July 15: Showdown over bank records, witness list trimmed

MANILA, Philippines — A constitutional power that "nothing and no one can handcuff," or a "weapon of a fishing expedition"?

The Senate impeachment court heard on Wednesday, July 15, two clashing answers to the question of whether it should compel the release of Vice President Sara Duterte's bank and tax records.

The oral arguments on the sixth day of trial pitted House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno against defense counsel Michael Poa, where both were given roughly half an hour to argue their position.

At stake are two motions by the prosecution asking to subpoena Duterte's tax, bank and Anti-Money Laundering Council records, regarded as the paper trail that will be the basis of Article II, which accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth disproportionate to her income.

The prosecution also further trimmed its witness list, withdrawing six more witnesses for the grave threats charge in a bid to speed up a trial that has drawn concern over its pace.

The day opened with a brief detour into the National Bureau of Investigation's announced plan yesterday to reopen the probe into the 2019 SEA Games, which Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano called an attempt to intimidate him ahead of NBI Director Melvin Matibag's scheduled testimony on Monday.  

1. Constitutional power vs 'fishing expedition'

Diokno anchored the prosecution's position on the impeachment court's constitutional mandate. 

"Nothing and no one can handcuff this court's power to try and decide this impeachment case," he told the court, arguing that the bank secrecy law itself exempts impeachment cases from the confidentiality of deposits.

Reading from an Anti-Money Laundering Council report, already pre-marked as an exhibit in the trial, Diokno said Duterte's financial activity surged from P28.15 million in 2007 to yearly totals exceeding P400 million between 2009 and 2013, with a peak of P704.93 million in 2009. The records cover her years as Davao City vice mayor and mayor.

"If she amassed staggering amounts of unexplained wealth while she was a vice mayor and mayor, doesn't that say a lot about her unfitness to serve as a vice president?" Diokno said. 

Diokno also recalled that the impeachment court previously subpoenaed former Chief Justice Renato Corona's bank records in 2012 and allowed evidence predating his appointment, citing questions raised then by senator-judges Escudero and Cayetano themselves.

Poa countered that the real issue is not the court's power but whether it can be exercised "in a manner that disregards due process." 

A subpoena issued in the hope that "somewhere somehow something incriminating will come out," he said, "ceases to be an instrument of justice. It becomes a weapon of a fishing expedition."

The defense counsel called the requests "fatally overbroad" for spanning nearly two decades, invoking the Supreme Court's ruling in Duterte v. House of Representatives that an impeachable offense must be committed while occupying an impeachable office. 

He also argued that Duterte's husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, "is not an impeachable officer" and is not covered by the bank secrecy law's impeachment exception.

"Impeachment is not a magic word or a magic wand that one can just wave to transform an illegal act into a legal act," Poa said.

On rebuttal, Diokno dismissed the defense's cited ruling as containing "incidental declarations of the court that are not controlling and are not the law of the land," since the case involved a different mode of impeachment. 

Poa shot back that allowing subpoenas to override the disclosure prohibitions in the anti-money laundering law and the tax code would amount to "judicial legislation."

2. Senators defer decision to Monday

After more than an hour in caucus following the oral arguments, the senator-judges agreed to decide on the two subpoena motions on Monday. 

Presiding officer Chiz Escudero said the senators need more time to study the memoranda submitted by both sides.

Escudero earlier said the court will vote on the two motions as filed, one covering bank and AMLC records and the other covering Bureau of Internal Revenue records, rather than voting on each sub-issue separately.

Before the caucus, Escudero commended Diokno and Poa for a calm and respectful debate on such a testy issue.

3. Prosecution drops six more witnesses

The House prosecution withdrew its motion to present six witnesses for Article IV, the grave threats charge, saying their testimony was no longer needed.

Lead prosecutor Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) said the panel saw no more need to call a representative of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office; Reuters correspondent Mikhail Flores and former Rappler reporter Bonz Magsambol, who were present at Duterte's Nov. 23, 2024 online press briefing; former Davao City court sheriff Abe Andres; a family member of a victim of the alleged threats; and a psychiatrist who was to testify on the vice president's state of mind.

The withdrawal leaves NBI Director Matibag as the last witness for Article IV. 

The prosecution had earlier dropped Zuleika Lopez and Capt. Belinda Bello from its list, which originally ran to 102 names, a figure that prompted Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian to warn the trial could stretch to 17 months at its ongoing pace.

Upon Sen. Bam Aquino's clarification, presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero clarified that the defense will present its evidence after the prosecution goes through its own presentation of evidence for all four articles of impeachment.  

The impeachment court also approved the issuance of subpoenas for four witnesses to appear at the trial on July 21 to 22, as the prosecution moves toward Article I, which covers Duterte's alleged misuse of confidential funds. Summoned to authenticate the records of House hearings on the confidential funds is Marivic Pareja of the House of Representatives Archives.

Also subpoenaed are Landbank of the Philippines President and CEO Lynette Ortiz and bank employees Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano.

The trial resumes Monday at 2 p.m.