VP lawyers’ nod to BIR box opening OK for transparency – Tolosa

MANILA, Philippines — The agreement of Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team to allow the opening of a sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box containing her records is a positive step toward transparency, Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., House prosecution panel spokesperson, said on Monday.

“Last Thursday, as reported, the defense vehemently objected to opening and even just the marking of the box itself,” Tolosa said when he was formally introduced as part of the private prosecution team in Duterte’s impeachment trial, which will begin on July 6.

“They changed their stance and said that they’re open to having the box opened and that we could conduct an inventory of its contents and we could mark the same, but under specific conditions.”

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READ: BIR box remains sealed as VP Sara Duterte camp files comment

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Tolosa said those conditions include holding the process in an executive session and keeping the contents confidential from the public.

He said the prosecution will leave those conditions for the impeachment court to resolve to avoid delay.

But he said the shift itself is welcome.

“Insofar as we’re concerned, we would like to take that as a positive step towards transparency,” Tolosa said.

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“At least now, compared to their original stance of not even allowing us to mark it, now at least we will finally be able to see the contents of that BIR box,” Tolosa said.

READ: Duterte impeachment trial: Prosecutors seek leeway to present evidence

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With the pretrial conference officially ended last Thursday, the prosecution is now waiting for the Senate impeachment court to issue its pretrial order, which, under the rules, it has 10 days to do, Tolosa pointed out.

“We’re expecting to receive that pretrial order sometime soon, but definitely before July 6,” he said.

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“Now, the only pending incidents are some requests that we filed,” Tolosa added. “I guess the most major among those is the opening of the BIR box.” /atm