VP Trial Day 37: Defense to cross examine BIR official; Henares sees errors
Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team is set to cross-examine a representative of the Bureau of Internal Revenue amid questions about her wealth.
Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez, BIR office of the commissioner chief of staff, earlier testified that Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio had a net income after tax of over P85 million from 2007 to 2025.
Private prosecutor Erwin Matib said this did not match Duterte’s declared wealth of P98,656,131.20 in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth for 2025.
Audited financial statements submitted to the BIR also showed the following cash on hand and in banks for Duterte and Carpio from 2022-2025.
- December 31, 2022: P21,234,980
- December 31, 2023: P28,971,725
- December 31, 2024: P15,525,209
- December 31, 2025: P13,804,540
Garcia-Marquez also testified Duterte received compensation from Davao City government in 2023 for legal activities while she was already vice president.
Section 13, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution bars the vice president and other top government officials from holding any other office or employment during their tenure.
Meanwhile, ex-BIR chief Kim Jacinto Henares said she spotted several errors during the direct examination of Garcia-Marquez on Day 36 of the trial.
One error, she said, was the assertion first propounded by the prosecution that not putting anything in the columns “income not subject to tax” and “income subject to final tax” in the BIR form meanT that there was no such income.
This assertion is wrong, she said, because lawmakers told her repeatedly during congressional hearings when she was BIR chief that filling in those columns should be voluntary and not mandatory.
“Hindi ho naging mandatory ‘yung requirement na ‘yan,” she said in a DZMM interview.
Henares noted that under the net worth method, income tax returns present an incomplete picture of actual income coming in for an individual because there are other sources of income that are not declared.
For example, time deposits which gain interest are not included in ITRs because these are already subject to final withholding tax. Dividends received are also subject to final withholding tax, which are not reflected in the ITRs.
Selling a house would also not show up in an ITR because this is already subject to capital gains tax.
Henares said this is the reason why she wanted to make mandatory the filling in of other incomes not subject to tax or subject to final tax because the ITRs would not reflect the actual income of the individual.
Total net worth, she said, can be determined by adding income reflected in ITRs plus other incomes not included there.
“Kung di mo rinereport ‘yan, hindi ibig sabihin wala ka nung ganung income. HIndi rin ibig sabihin may kasalanan ka. Hindi kasi ginawang mandatory ‘yan. Hindi mo makikita ‘yung total na kinita niyang income. ‘Yung worth niya makikita mo sa SALN. Iba yung total worth sa kinita mo during that period. Your SALN is your balance sheet,” she said.
Henares said she has several questions on why the Duterte couple had net income after tax of over P85 million from 2007 to 2025 but the Vice President declared P98,656,131.20 net worth in 2025.
She also questioned the conclusion that Duterte’s additional income from “legal activities” with the city of Davao meant she was practicing her profession as a lawyer while simultaneously serving as vice president.
“Pwede ka magkaroon ng income sa ibang bagay, you just need to report it kahit saan ‘yan galing. Hindi tama ‘yung conclusion na legal activity ay dahil sa legal practice,” she said.