Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 36: What to expect

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The House prosecution panel is set to present on Thursday a witness from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to testify on Article 2 of the impeachment case, alleging that Vice President Sara Duterte accumulated unexplained wealth.

Set to be called to the witness stand this morning is BIR Office of the Commissioner chief of staff Atty. Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez.

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said that the BIR witness is expected to be asked about voluminous documents, including the income tax returns and audited financial statements of the Vice President and her husband, Manases Carpio.

“‘Yung ating House prosecution panel would have to go through all these documents of all the years, almost all of the years na they feel na significant. And then, they would also have to identify the entities doon sa bawat year pong ‘yun. So, ‘yun po ‘yung kailangan pagdaanan ng proseso po doon sa mga dokumento na ‘yun,” Tongol said in a press conference on Wednesday.

(The House prosecution panel would have to go through all these documents covering almost all the years they deem significant. They would also need to identify the entities involved for each of those years. So, that is the process they must go through regarding those documents.)

“Katulad ng nakita niyo po, nag-highlight po sila ng mga amounts po. So sa mga income tax return at mga financial records po ng ating almost 20 entities at saka ng respondent at saka ng husband niya, ‘yun po yung mga bagay na i-highlight po nila [today]. In-expect natin na ganun din ‘yung mangyayari dito, pero about audited financial statements naman o tsaka mga ITR,” he added.

(As you saw, they highlighted specific amounts. So, the income tax returns and financial records of the nearly 20 entities, as well as those of the respondent and her husband, are the items that will be highlighted today. We expect the same thing to happen here, but focusing on audited financial statements or ITRs.)

Tongol also noted that the trial will be briefly suspended at around 1:30 p.m. to hold a plenary session for about 30 minutes. The trial will resume after the session ends. —LDF, GMA News