Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson reiterated on Sunday that the law requires a written authority from President Marcos before the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) ‘green box’ containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio can be opened.
‘If it is ‘forcibly’ unsealed without the written authority of the President, I will vote against it. That will be my personal vote, because I do not want to be blamed in the future for taking part in violating the law,’ Lacson said in a radio interview on dzBB.
‘My position is clear. Without the written authority of the President, I cannot support the unsealing. I am not favoring the defense. I am invoking the law and that is clear,’ he added.
According to Lacson, he will not participate in any action that will violate Sections 71 and 270 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) as well as established Supreme Court jurisprudence, stressing that the impeachment court is not above the law.
Section 71 states that income tax returns (ITRs) ‘shall constitute public records and be open to inspection as such upon the order of the President of the Philippines, under rules and regulations to be presented by the Secretary of Finance, upon recommendation of the [BIR] Commissioner.’
Section 270, on the other hand, provides penalties for BIR personnel who divulge information collected from taxpayers, including trade secrets and confidential information.
Another option
In a previous radio interview on July 4, Lacson said the records could also be unsealed through a written waiver from the respondent.
He warned that if the impeachment court decides to open the BIR box without complying with the law, it may expose itself to charges of grave abuse of discretion.
According to Lacson, the disposition of Duterte’s ITR records must be governed solely by the law and existing jurisprudence.
He stressed that the impeachment court should only allow the unsealing of the records if the legal requirements, including the President’s written authority under Sec. 71 of the NIRC, are met.
‘Even if we are an Impeachment Court, we cannot be above the law,’ Lacson said.
In April, the BIR submitted the sealed green box in response to a subpoena from the House justice committee which was then deliberating on the impeachment complaints against Duterte, particularly the allegations that she had amassed unexplained wealth while in office.
The committee, however, decided not to open the box, citing privacy provisions under the NIRC.
Return to sender
On July 7, the impeachment court ordered the return of the box to the BIR, saying there was no directive for its turnover to the Senate.
Sen. Francis Escudero, the impeachment court’s presiding officer, noted at the time that the box had been turned over as part of the documents for the trial, including the Articles of Impeachment.
‘However, the court is not yet in custodial legis of this box, given that there’s no lawful order issued by the court for this box to be turned over to the Senate,’ he said.
‘The chair, therefore, orders that the BIR box-closed, sealed and as it is received-be sent back to the BIR without prejudice to any action that the court may take if a motion will be filed by either parties for the issuance of a subpoena, and we shall await action, if any, by the BIR commissioner should that time come,’ Escudero added.
The impeachment court is set to hear on July 15 the oral arguments on the requested subpoena for the BIR box.
Both the prosecution and defense were earlier ordered by the court to submit by July 13 their respective memoranda on the matter.