Duterte defense seeks to block financial records in Senate impeachment trial

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Duterte impeachment trial records

Highlights

Defense counsel objects to all House prosecution exhibits in Duterte impeachment trial, citing impropriety and inadmissibility of financial records from 2007 to 2025.
The exhibits under dispute include statements of assets, SEC records, Anti-Money Laundering Council records, and documentation of declared business interests, all related to alleged unexplained wealth.
Forensic expert Alexander Cabrera identified P817.87 million to P1.5 billion in alleged unexplained wealth, with Senate judges to decide admissibility of evidence before proceedings resume Nov. 9.

Dispute over admissibility of exhibits

As reported by BusinessWorld Online, the Vice-President's private defense counsel is maintaining a blanket objection to the House prosecutors' formal offer of exhibits, arguing that the documents are inadmissible because they stem from what it calls an impermissible fishing expedition.

The challenged exhibits mainly cover Ms. Duterte's financial records, including her 2007 to 2025 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, Securities and Exchange Commission records, Anti-Money Laundering Council records and reports, and documents linked to her declared business interests.

In a comment dated Oct. 20, the defense says the documents were not attached to the articles of impeachment, particularly after the withdrawal of Impeachment Articles I, III and IV. It argues that Article II, which concerns alleged unexplained wealth, is now the only basis for a possible conviction and that the records were obtained and used in violation of the law.

The camp also reiterates that the Anti-Money Laundering Act's confidentiality provisions should bar the use of AMLC records, although Presiding Officer Francis G. Escudero has earlier ruled that the documents are admissible in the impeachment court.

Implications for the prosecution case

A House prosecutor is pushing back against the defense strategy, saying the objections cover all documentary evidence submitted in the unexplained wealth component of the trial, including Ms. Duterte's own asset declarations and financial records.

Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon says the defense had taken part in hearings and cross-examined witnesses who authenticated the documents, making the broad challenge difficult to reconcile with the trial record. The House prosecution filed its formal offer of evidence on Oct. 21 after presenting witnesses and financial records involving Ms. Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases "Mans" Carpio.

The prosecution also presented forensic accounting expert Alexander Cabrera, whose review identified about P817.87 million in allegedly unexplained wealth, with a broader estimate of as much as P1.5 billion. Senator-judges are set to decide which documents may be admitted, a ruling that could determine how much evidentiary support remains for the prosecution when proceedings resume on Nov. 9 for the expected cross-examination of defense witnesses.

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