The prosecution panel says it will hand over financial records from the impeachment trial that could support possible tax evasion cases
SARA DUTERTE TAX DOCUMENTS – The House prosecution panel is ready to turn over tax and financial documents involving Vice President Sara Duterte and companies linked to her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), House prosecutor and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Adiong, who also serves as spokesperson of the House trial team, said the records presented during the Senate impeachment trial could help the BIR in a separate review of possible tax violations.
“As far as I know, the BIR has already issued a letter of authority,” Adiong said, referring to the bureau’s earlier confirmation that it had authorized an audit covering Cale88 Foods Corp., a firm associated with Carpio.
“On our part, we are focused on the impeachment trial. The prosecution panel is willing to share with BIR the documents that we already have, because this is public record,” he added.
The prosecution is eyeing two possible tax issues. The first involves an alleged P111.85-million gap between the couple’s bank inflows of P174.96 million and the P63.11 million in income they declared from 2022 to 2025. The figures came from forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera, who examined the Vice President’s income tax returns, bank records and other documents presented at the trial.
Cabrera included the gap in a broader estimate of P817.87 million in alleged unexplained wealth and undeclared assets involving the couple, an amount he said could reach at least P1.5 billion for the same period.
The second involves three companies linked to the couple: Metro City Chow Inc., Cale88 Foods Corp. and GenCorp. Prosecutors earlier disclosed an alleged P1.41-billion difference between the bank inflows and the declared revenues of the three firms from 2022 to 2025.
“It’s a difference of hundreds of millions that they declared, those financial statements that were audited, and without the real income, the money inflows, the companies’ revenues and based on their corporate accounts, as against those bank deposits in their standing accounts,” Adiong said.
Under Section 248(B) of the National Internal Revenue Code, failing to report sales, receipts or income exceeding 30 percent of what was declared in a tax return may be considered prima facie evidence of a false or fraudulent return. However, the BIR must still determine whether the questioned inflows are taxable income rather than loans, transfers or other legitimate transactions.
“I’m sure the BIR has all the means to review and to get access to documents that they need, and they need to secure these so that they can see and assess for themselves if there is some probative value on the pieces of evidence that came out during the testimony,” Adiong said.
Any BIR examination will be separate from the impeachment case, and the Vice President’s defense continues to dispute the prosecution’s reading of the financial evidence. Senators sitting as judges have stressed that the verdict will rest on evidence, not surveys, while Senate President Win Gatchalian earlier said the trial could stretch into December. Malacañang has also insisted that President Marcos has no hand in the proceedings.