MANILA – A Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official said the agency would need to verify whether a revenue regulation issued by the Secretary of Finance covers the submission of tax returns involving lawyer Mans Carpio and several entities mentioned during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
During cross-examination, defense counsel Atty. Kristine Ferrer questioned BIR Office of the Commissioner Chief of Staff Atty. Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez about the existence of a revenue regulation authorizing or governing the submission of the tax returns by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Garcia-Marquez said she could not immediately confirm the matter because she had yet to review the specific regulation being raised by the defense.
Ferrer then pressed the witness on whether she could provide any supporting regulation at that point in the proceedings.
“So… there’s nothing you can provide as of now,” Ferrer asked.
Garcia-Marquez clarified that her inability to produce the document did not necessarily mean that no such regulation existed.
“’Di ko po sinasabing wala, pero ang sinasabi ko lang, wala lang ako ngayon… we’ll still have to check on it,” she responded.
The exchange centered on the legal basis for submitting tax records involving Carpio and the entities identified during the impeachment proceedings.
Garcia-Marquez maintained that further verification was necessary before she could give a definitive answer regarding the regulation cited by the defense.
The questioning formed part of the defense panel’s examination of BIR procedures and the handling of tax-related documents presented before the Senate impeachment court.
Courtesy: Senate impeachment court
