Prosecution Demands Sara Duterte's Admission on Bank Account Ownership in Impeachment Trial

The House prosecution panel has asked for Vice President Sara Duterte's admission of authenticity and ownership of bank accounts which the prosecution will present as evidence during her impeachment trial, saying she can make such an admission without compromising her defense. Prosecutor Chel Diokno of Akbayan party-list made the manifestation in a 104-page request for admission that the prosecution submitted to the court and the defense during Day 23 of the impeachment trial of the Vice President. Diokno cited Section 1, Rule 26 of the Rules of Court for civil procedure, which provides that "after the issues have been joined, a party may serve upon another party a written request for admission of the genuineness of material and relevant documents, or of the truth of material and relevant matters of fact." Further, Diokno invoked Section 2 of the Rules of Court, which states that "matters covered by the Request shall be deemed admitted unless the party upon whom the Request is served submits the sworn response required by the Rule—either specifically denying the matters requested or setting forth in detail the reasons why he or she cannot truthfully either admit or deny them." Diokno said, "Simple lamang po ang hinihiling ng prosecution. Hinihiling namin sa respondent na kumpirmahin, una, kung genuine o tunay ang mga bank records na isinumite ng mga bangko alinsunod sa subpoena duces tecum na inisyu ng impeachment court. At ikalawa, kung ang mga bank accounts na tinutukoy sa mga records na iyon ay pag-aari ni Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, bilang indibidwal o kasama ang kanyang asawa, ama, kapatid, o anak." (What the prosecution is asking is simple. We are asking the respondent to confirm, first, if the bank records submitted by the banks, in compliance with the subpoena duces tecum issued by the impeachment court, are authentic. Secondly, if the bank accounts referred to by the records are owned by Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, as an individual or with her husband, father, siblings, or children.) Diokno said such details can be easily verified by the vice president, since she "necessarily possesses personal knowledge" of such accounts and "immediate means of verifying their accuracy and genuineness through her own records or directly with the banks that produced them." "We are not asking respondent to admit something she does not know or something that is not true. If a particular matter is genuinely disputed, she may specifically deny it. If she cannot truthfully admit or deny it, she may state under oath the reasons why," Diokno said. "But where a party has immediate access to records, documents, or information by which the truth of a matter can readily be confirmed without undue difficulty, an unjustified refusal to admit readily verifiable facts or documents would defeat the very purpose of a Request for Admission—to narrow the issues and avoid unnecessary proof," Diokno added. Diokno is the lead prosecutor for Article 2 of the impeachment case, which alleges that the vice president should be impeached for amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official. This relates to her alleged failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) from 2022 to 2024, as well as her supposed failure to divest her business interests during her tenure as vice president from 2022 to 2025. In response, defense lawyer Michael Poa said the defense would need 15 days to file a comment on the prosecution's request for admission, but made an initial question if the Rules of Court cited by Diokno are applicable in an impeachment case. Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero granted the defense's motion asking for 15 days to respond to the prosecution's request. Also on Tuesday, the House prosecution panel said it intends to present Duterte herself in her impeachment trial. Her defense team, however, argued that the vice president cannot be compelled to testify against herself during her own impeachment trial. — VDV, GMA News