Vice president-elect Sara Duterte, accompanied by her family, signs documents during her inauguration at San Pedro Square, Davao City. (City Government of Davao via Wikimedia)
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) ordered a formal probe on April 28, through Letters of Authority (LOAs), to conduct a taxation audit on the Philippine Vice President, Sara Duterte, and her husband, Manases Carpio, over allegations of unexplained wealth. Under Section 5 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), such issuance is considered legal as the information was obtained from third-party sources as well as public records and official data.
The BIR cited probable tax evasion charges, involving nine businesses entities that are linked to the couple, including Amianan Shores, Inc., Carpio Lawyers (formerly Carpio and Duterte Lawyers), Davao Emerging Taipans Corporation, Davao Bounty Times Foods Corporation, Madayaw Fisheries Inc., Zelta Matiem Salon, City Hall King Chow Foods Corporation, Cale88 Foods Corporation and Geometry Security and Investigation Agency, Inc.
In parallel, the agency have also considered referring the case to the Office of the Ombudsman to audit Sara Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
Following up on the April 22 delivery of the ‘sealed box’containing Sara’s tax records from the BIR, the House Committee spent the evening of April 28 preparing it for impeachment proceedings—while remaining circumspect about the legality of opening them.
Committee chair, Attorney Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro emphasised caution in handling the case. She stated, “since day one of our proceeding, we have taken the conservative route, we have taken the safer and the cautious road, because we owe it to the Filipino people that this impeachment proceeding should be able to proceed and reach its conclusion.” Luistro insisted that existing mechanisms, namely bank secrecy law, must not override the constitutional mandates.
On the consecutive day, the House Committee on Justice held, what is expected to be the final clarificatory hearing, to determine Sara’s impeachment. The Senate emphasised its readiness to proceed with trial, while also reviewing findings from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the Vice President’s aggressive remarks about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the First Lady and the Speaker of the House.
Meanwhile, Sara Duterte, for her part, has maintained her willingness to speak only to the Senate and refused to participate in House inquiries, saying that she will only speak in a “proper forum”.
This unfolding saga reflects high-stakes stress and conflict at the highest levels of government, with mounting legal, political and institutional pressures now surrounding the vice presidency.
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