House prosecution panel member and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said on Thursday that the Senate impeachment court has enough authority to order the opening of the box containing Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio’s tax records.

“Kumbaga, it doesn’t need ‘yung sinasabing exceptions doon po sa code ng BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) para mabuksan po ito pong box po na ito. Sapat na ‘yun pong kapangyarihan ng Senate impeachment court para buksan po itong BIR box,” Ridon told reporters during a press briefing.

During the House impeachment proceedings held to determine probable cause in the complaints against Duterte, the BIR submitted to the Committee on Justice a sealed box containing the couple’s tax records.

However, BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza said the agency had simply complied with the subpoena but was opposed to revealing the box’s contents.

According to Section 20(a) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Mendoza argued that such private information can only be disclosed in aid of legislation, during an executive session.

Ridon asserted that the rule does not apply to the justice panel—which subpoenaed the information contained within the box—or the Senate impeachment court, urging that the box be opened.

“I’m quite certain that the prosecution panel will insist that mabuksan po ‘yung box today. If not, then we will leave it to the (impeachment) court to decide,” he told the media.

The lawmaker said the tax records will be compared to the vice president’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2007 through 2024, with 2007 as the year she began public service, and to serve as the baseline for her current net worth at ₱88.5 million.

The tax records may also shed light on undisclosed assets that may surface when compared to the couple’s cash and firearm declarations, he added, so that the documents have a “two-pronged impact.”

If the defense insists that only evidence from 2022 onwards be used, Ridon said it is up to the impeachment court to appreciate the prosecution’s extensive evidence.

The impeachment trial is slated to begin on July 6.