The husband of Vice President Sara Duterte has turned to the courts to stop the House committee on justice from obtaining his and his wife’s tax records, filing a petition that frames the congressional subpoena as a violation of constitutional privacy rights.
Lawyer Manases Carpio filed a petition for prohibition and injunction before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, seeking a temporary restraining order against the subpoena. House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and committee chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas were named as respondents in the petition, a copy of which was circulated to reporters by Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Monday.
In the petition, Carpio argued that no government body may compel the release of a private individual’s tax documents without that person’s consent, describing such records as “highly confidential in nature.” He cited the National Internal Revenue Code, which he said criminalizes any BIR official who unlawfully discloses taxpayer data, and invoked the Data Privacy Act as an additional layer of protection.
“They cannot expediently be released without notice to nor prior consent of the taxpayer,” Carpio said, adding that the subpoena threatens information “duly secured and guaranteed by his constitutional right to life, liberty and property and the equal protection clause.”
Ridon dismissed the legal move as insufficient to suppress the evidence, insisting the committee holds clear authority to demand the records in the context of impeachment proceedings.
“BIR documents are proper subjects of subpoena by the House Committee on Justice in the course of impeachment proceedings, as these records are relevant to the determination of whether the Vice President may have betrayed public trust, committed culpable violations of the Constitution, or committed other impeachable offenses,” Ridon said.
He added that privacy claims carry no weight against Congress when it exercises its impeachment and fact-finding powers under the Constitution and the House Rules on Impeachment.
“Enough with the excuses. The Duterte-Carpio tax documents will see the light of day during the House impeachment hearings,” Ridon said, partly in Filipino.
The tax records are central to scrutiny of Duterte’s declared wealth. Ridon had previously told the committee that her net worth climbed from P7.2 million in 2007 — her first year as a public official — to P88.51 million in 2024, a jump he calculated at 1,120 percent. Based on her 2008 SALN alone, the increase to her 2024 figure represents a 378 percent rise.
The committee on justice issued a subpoena on April 6 for BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza, alongside orders for the production of Duterte’s tax compliance records, income statements, and certified true copies of income tax returns for both her and Carpio. Her SALNs covering her time as Vice President and her earlier terms as Davao City mayor and vice mayor were also subpoenaed.
The Duterte-Carpio tax filings are among multiple document sets expected before the panel. April 14 marks the first hearing at which evidence against the Vice President is set to be formally examined, with two additional hearing dates already scheduled — April 22 and April 29. Luistro has said the committee will add more dates if the volume of evidence requires it.
