Photo courtesy of Ping Lacson/Facebook.
The Senate impeachment court should not keep the sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue box allegedly containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Saturday.
Lacson said senators agreed during their Friday caucus that the so-called BIR green box should be sent back to the House prosecution panel, which transmitted it to the Senate.
In a radio interview, Lacson said the impeachment court had no duty to hold evidence for either side, noting that evidence should be presented by the prosecution or the defense during the trial.
He said senators saw no basis for the Senate to safeguard the box, especially because courts do not unseal evidence before it is formally offered in proceedings.
According to Lacson, keeping the box could create legal problems because tax records may be disclosed only with written authority from the President or through a waiver from the taxpayer concerned.
He said the prosecution should secure the required authority from the Office of the President if it wanted the contents of the box opened, adding that the Senate impeachment court should not be made to carry that responsibility.
Lacson also questioned why the House prosecution panel accepted and forwarded the sealed box without first obtaining the legal clearance needed to open the tax records.
The BIR box was submitted during a House justice committee hearing in April and reportedly contained the tax records of Duterte, her husband, and their companies. It was later sent unopened to the Senate after a motion to open it failed at the House panel level. Duterte’s impeachment trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, July 6.