‘Violation of privacy?’ Senate court takes down Sara Duterte trial livestream

TAXES. Bureau of Internal Revenue Office of the Commissioner chief of staff Anne Lorraine Garcia-Marquez takes the witness stand on Day 36 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on October 8, 2026.

Senate Social Media Unit

The BIR witness says the copy of the Letter of Authority displayed during the trial showed the names of some revenue officers

MANILA, Philippines – In the impeachment trial of Sara Duterte, it’s been the defense that has repeatedly objected to the presentation of the bank and tax records of the Vice President and her husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio, citing confidentiality issues.

But on Day 37 of the trial on Friday, October 9, there was a twist.

Impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero ordered the Senate Clerk of Court to take down the livestream of the highly public proceedings over concerns on displaying the private information of some personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Escudero issued the directive after lawyer Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez, chief-of-staff of the Office of the BIR Commissioner, expressed worry following the defense’s flashing of the copies of the confidential letter of authority (LOA) the BIR issued to Duterte’s husband.

Carpio himself had consented to the presentation of the LOA but Garcia-Marquez said the documents showed the names of the revenue officers. 

“I just want to raise that when the copy of the LOAs were flashed on the screen earlier… the names of some revenue officers were displayed. It should have been redacted,” Garcia-Marquez said. 

Escudero said the court will redact the names on the documents to be submitted in court but the witness said her worry was due to the showing of the sensitive data of the BIR officers. 

“We manifest, Your Honor, that there has been a violation of the privacy of the people involved. Their names were flashed for everyone to see,” private prosecutor Erwin Matib said. 

The court vowed to address the issue.

After an hour-long break, Escudero asked the Clerk of Court to remove the original livestream and re-upload it with the redaction of the names of the BIR officers. 

The livestream was taken down past 1 pm. 

“We would like to remind not only [defense] Attorney Kristine [Ferrer] and the counsels for the respondent but also the counsel for the prosecution to be careful next time insofar as revealing names or addresses,” said Escudero. 

“Given the public nature of these proceedings, as it might violate some provisions of the Data Privacy Act, as well as the security of certain officials of government engaged in various activities as part of their official functions and duties,” he said. – Rappler.com