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House Prosecutors Press Defense Over Sealed BIR Box In Sara Duterte Impeachment
Photo credit: Congress PH
House prosecutors on Thursday questioned why Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team continues to oppose not only the opening of a sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) evidence box but even its simple marking as an exhibit in the ongoing impeachment pre-trial.
The prosecution said it had already scaled back its request after the defense objected to opening the box. Instead of asking the Senate impeachment court to inspect its contents immediately, prosecutors sought only to have the sealed box marked as evidence. Even that, they said, was rejected by the defense.
“Hindi ko nga maintindihan eh, kayo ba? Ano bang nakakatakot doon sa selyadong BIR box na mamarkahan lang naman?” lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said during a press briefing.
House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua also challenged the defense to allow the evidence to be examined.
“Kung wala namang itinatago, buksan na natin ’yung box. Kung malinis naman po ‘yung kanilang konsyensya, eh ‘di labas ang ebidensya,” Chua said.
The sealed evidence box was submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in response to a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Justice during the impeachment proceedings against Duterte. The subpoena sought the income tax returns of the Vice President and her spouse, documents that House prosecutors believe are relevant to the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth.
Instead of opening the package, the House transmitted the sealed BIR box to the Senate together with the Articles of Impeachment, leaving it to the Senate impeachment court to determine whether it should be opened during the trial.
Luistro explained that prosecutors originally wanted the box opened during the pre-trial conference so the documents inside could be identified and marked as evidence. After the defense objected, they modified their request and asked only that the sealed container itself be marked, while leaving the question of opening it to the impeachment court.
“Initially, what we are requesting is the opening, so that after the opening, we will be requesting the contents, the documents inside, to be marked,” Luistro said.
“But since they opposed the opening, we contented ourselves with just marking the sealed box. Even the marking of the sealed box was opposed by the defense,” she added.
Luistro said the prosecution formally placed its objection on record because impeachment rules generally require documentary evidence to be marked during the pre-trial conference before it can be presented during the actual trial.
“And that is why we registered our reservation as to the marking of the box, including its contents, because we understand that there’s a rule that all the evidence must be pre-marked during PTC (pre-trial conference), otherwise we will not be able to present that during the trial,” she said.
“Nevertheless, the records will show that we really tried to have them marked.”
Former senator and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima also questioned the defense's position, pointing out that both the prosecution and the defense had listed BIR-related documents as possible evidence in their respective pre-trial briefs.
“Umaasa kami when we filed that manifestation with certain proposals and that includes the opening of the BIR box and the inventory of the contents kasi kailangan malaman na ’yung laman ng BIR box,” De Lima said.
She noted that the defense itself had reserved BIR submissions as possible evidence.
“So katulad ng sa pre-trial brief na sinubmit ng prosecution, meron doon about tax records and reserve documents. And therefore, ganoon din doon sa defense, meron din silang ganoon na plano to submit BIR submissions,” De Lima pointed out.
“So why are they refusing now to open and make an inventory and find out the contents of that BIR box? Eh sila mismo rin may ganoong reservation, may reserve evidence din sila pertaining to BIR submissions,” De Lima said.
The dispute over the sealed BIR box is one of several procedural issues being tackled before the Senate impeachment court ahead of the formal trial. The court has yet to rule on whether the box will be opened and inventoried or remain sealed until a later stage of the proceedings.
The prosecution said it had already scaled back its request after the defense objected to opening the box. Instead of asking the Senate impeachment court to inspect its contents immediately, prosecutors sought only to have the sealed box marked as evidence. Even that, they said, was rejected by the defense.
“Hindi ko nga maintindihan eh, kayo ba? Ano bang nakakatakot doon sa selyadong BIR box na mamarkahan lang naman?” lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said during a press briefing.
House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua also challenged the defense to allow the evidence to be examined.
“Kung wala namang itinatago, buksan na natin ’yung box. Kung malinis naman po ‘yung kanilang konsyensya, eh ‘di labas ang ebidensya,” Chua said.
The sealed evidence box was submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in response to a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Justice during the impeachment proceedings against Duterte. The subpoena sought the income tax returns of the Vice President and her spouse, documents that House prosecutors believe are relevant to the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth.
Instead of opening the package, the House transmitted the sealed BIR box to the Senate together with the Articles of Impeachment, leaving it to the Senate impeachment court to determine whether it should be opened during the trial.
Luistro explained that prosecutors originally wanted the box opened during the pre-trial conference so the documents inside could be identified and marked as evidence. After the defense objected, they modified their request and asked only that the sealed container itself be marked, while leaving the question of opening it to the impeachment court.
“Initially, what we are requesting is the opening, so that after the opening, we will be requesting the contents, the documents inside, to be marked,” Luistro said.
“But since they opposed the opening, we contented ourselves with just marking the sealed box. Even the marking of the sealed box was opposed by the defense,” she added.
Luistro said the prosecution formally placed its objection on record because impeachment rules generally require documentary evidence to be marked during the pre-trial conference before it can be presented during the actual trial.
“And that is why we registered our reservation as to the marking of the box, including its contents, because we understand that there’s a rule that all the evidence must be pre-marked during PTC (pre-trial conference), otherwise we will not be able to present that during the trial,” she said.
“Nevertheless, the records will show that we really tried to have them marked.”
Former senator and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima also questioned the defense's position, pointing out that both the prosecution and the defense had listed BIR-related documents as possible evidence in their respective pre-trial briefs.
“Umaasa kami when we filed that manifestation with certain proposals and that includes the opening of the BIR box and the inventory of the contents kasi kailangan malaman na ’yung laman ng BIR box,” De Lima said.
She noted that the defense itself had reserved BIR submissions as possible evidence.
“So katulad ng sa pre-trial brief na sinubmit ng prosecution, meron doon about tax records and reserve documents. And therefore, ganoon din doon sa defense, meron din silang ganoon na plano to submit BIR submissions,” De Lima pointed out.
“So why are they refusing now to open and make an inventory and find out the contents of that BIR box? Eh sila mismo rin may ganoong reservation, may reserve evidence din sila pertaining to BIR submissions,” De Lima said.
The dispute over the sealed BIR box is one of several procedural issues being tackled before the Senate impeachment court ahead of the formal trial. The court has yet to rule on whether the box will be opened and inventoried or remain sealed until a later stage of the proceedings.
Jun 26, 2026
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