Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said on Sunday, July 5 that one of the things that the Impeachment Court will resolve at the opening of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte would be the sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box containing her tax records as well as her husband, Manases Carpio.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian (Mark Balmores)

The sealed BIR box has not been opened or marked as evidence during the pre-trial conference of the Impeachment Court.

According to Gatchalian, who will serve as the presiding officer of the Impeachment Court, said the matter will be taken up during the first day of the impeachment trial of the Vice President on Monday, July 6, 2026.

“Yes, we still have the box right now; it is in the Senate's custody. But it is evidence, after all. And evidence should be in the custody of the prosecution or the defense,” Gatchalian said in an interview over Radio DZBB.

Gatchalian said the matter was also taken up during the all senators’ caucus last Friday, July 3.

“That was how the discussion went,” he disclosed.

Though he has his own personal opinion on the matter, Gatchalian said he will raise this during the actual day of the opening trial on Monday.

“That matter was taken up during the all-senators caucus, and it was one of the issues discussed at length. In fact, I have my own opinion on the matter. We also discussed the issue why it is under the Senate’s custody,” he said.

“But again, I won't preempt the outcome; you will see the resolutions tomorrow. So, we will hear the impeachment court's decision tomorrow,” he stressed.

For his part, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson expressed belief the disposition of the Vice President’s sealed tax records must be governed solely by the law and existing jurisprudence.

Lacson said the Senate Impeachment Court will not and cannot be above the law in deciding what to do with the “BIR Green box.”

“The decision on the status of the sealed BIR ITR records will be dictated by law and existing jurisprudence. The Impeachment Court will not and cannot be above the law. No one else is,” he said on X.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/2073623472748761301

On Saturday, Lacson said the Impeachment Court may return the box to the House prosecution team as it is not meant to be its custodian, citing Sections 71 and 270 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as well as existing jurisprudence based on Supreme Court rulings.

Under Section 71 of the NIRC, 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 Commissioner.”

Section 270 of the NIRC also provides penalties for BIR personnel who divulge information collected from taxpayers, including trade secrets and confidential information.

Another circumstance that will allow the unsealing of the records would be a written waiver from the respondent.

The senator warned that if the Impeachment Court decides on whether to unseal the box without complying with the law, it may expose itself to charges of grave abuse of discretion.

“We have no business safekeeping evidence. Evidence should be presented by either the prosecution or the defense. They left the box with us, what are we supposed to do with it? We are a court,” Lacson said in a DZMM interview on Saturday.

“One of the things we agreed on was to return it because, first of all, keeping it would be against the law. It is not the impeachment court’s, or any court’s, role to unseal it,” he said.