Day 7 of impeachment trial: parties debate on validity of subpoena for Sara’s financial transactions
MindaNews / 20 July 2026 – The prosecution and defense on Monday argued on whether or not the Senate impeachment court should issue a subpoena duces tecum on the financial transactions of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Responding to a question by Senator-Judge Joel Villanueva, Rep. Chel Diokno, one of the prosecutors, said a subpoena simply seeks the submission of evidence the admissibility of which “will be decided in due course.”
Monday’s hearing centered on the prosecution’s motion to compel the production of the bank, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and AMLC records of Duterte in relation to Article II of the impeachment complaint alleging unexplained wealth.
Diokno, citing two cases brought before the Supreme Court, said that determining unexplained wealth involves not just examining an official’s SALN but also the entirety of his/her income. Otherwise, he said, it would be impossible to know if his/her lawful income explains his/her wealth.
He said a SALN is just a “snapshot” and an Income Tax Return a “short video” of a taxpayer’s transactions for the entire year. He noted that the records presented by the AMLC covered not the entire transactions but only the “suspicious” ones.
He added the whole picture can only be seen by surfacing the bank records showing the day to day transactions.
Defense counsel Michael Poa countered that the cases mentioned did not involve impeachment. “We’re looking at what really comprise an impeachable offense.”
Poa agreed with Diokno that a subpoena only compels the production of records but does not, by itself, determine whether those records are admissible as evidence.
However, the defense counsel argued that opening up all the respondent’s financial transactions would be intrusive. He said the prosecution must establish the definiteness and relevance of the records subject to subpoenas.
“They don’t know which among the documents they requested would support their allegation,” Poa said in Filipino.
He said they are opposing the issuance of a subpoena for “lack of facts” starting at the committee on justice, referring to the filing of the impeachment complaint before the House of Representatives.
Calling the request for a subpoena a “fishing expedition,” Poa said the allegation of unexplained wealth did not mention any basis, just the fact that Duterte’s SALN grew in a span of 20 years.
He added it was only after Duterte filed her answer to the complaint that the prosecution tried to look for evidence.
Diokno cited that during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona then-presiding officer Juan Ponce Enrile allowed subpoenas to be issued while deferring decisions on evidentiary weight after the records had been produced and examined. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)
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