The status of a sealed box holding tax documents belonging to Vice President Sara Duterte and her spouse, lawyer Manases Carpio, sits among the first questions the Impeachment Court intends to settle when it convenes on Monday, July 6, 2026, according to Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.
Speaking on Radio DZBB, Gatchalian confirmed that the container from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remains under Senate safekeeping and has yet to be opened or entered into the record as evidence. He explained that this arrangement is precisely what makes the situation problematic. “Yes, we still have the box right now; it is in the Senate’s custody. But it is evidence, after all. And evidence should be in the custody of the prosecution or the defense,” he said.
Gatchalian, who will preside over the proceedings, noted that senators had already tackled the issue at length during a caucus held Friday, July 3. He acknowledged holding a personal view on how the box should be handled, along with the question of why it ended up with the Senate in the first place, but declined to reveal his position ahead of the trial. “But again, I won’t preempt the outcome; you will see the resolutions tomorrow. So, we will hear the impeachment court’s decision tomorrow,” he said.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has taken a firmer public stance, arguing that only statute and court precedent should determine what becomes of the records. Writing on X, he cautioned against the chamber overstepping its authority. “The decision on the status of the sealed BIR ITR records will be dictated by law and existing jurisprudence. The Impeachment Court will not and cannot be above the law. No one else is,” he said.
A day earlier, in a DZMM interview, Lacson had proposed handing the box back to the House prosecution team, pointing to Sections 71 and 270 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) and related Supreme Court rulings. He questioned why the court was left holding material it had no role in guarding. “We have no business safekeeping evidence. Evidence should be presented by either the prosecution or the defense. They left the box with us, what are we supposed to do with it? We are a court,” he said.
Section 71 of the NIRC treats income tax returns as public records that may be examined only through an order from the President of the Philippines, following rules set by the Finance Secretary on the Commissioner’s recommendation. Section 270, meanwhile, imposes penalties on BIR employees who disclose taxpayer data, trade secrets, or other confidential material. A signed waiver from the respondent offers a separate legal route to unsealing the documents.
Lacson also flagged a risk for the court itself: acting on the box outside the bounds of the law could open the body to accusations of grave abuse of discretion, he warned, adding that unsealing such records falls outside the function of any court.
