The tax documents of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, will remain under lock and key after the House Committee on Justice voted 6-38-0 against opening a sealed box submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The BIR had turned over the records following its appearance before the committee during the April 22 impeachment hearing. The lopsided vote ensures the contents stay confidential even as they sit within the formal record of the ongoing proceedings.
The decision comes as the impeachment case against the Vice President builds toward a probable Senate trial. The House justice panel, chaired by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, has already heard testimony from the Anti-Money Laundering Council reporting some P6.77 billion in covered and suspicious bank transactions involving Duterte and Carpio between 2006 and 2025 — amounts that far outstrip what the Vice President has declared in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
The BIR box, now sealed by committee vote, adds a layer of unreleased material to a case that Luistro has indicated is on track to clear the House committee and land before the Senate for trial.
