How Far Back Can Prosecutors Go Into Sara Duterte’s Financial Records?

How far back can prosecutors look into Vice President Sara Duterte’s finances? In this Hey Atty reel, PGMN anchor Atty. Bernice Piñol-Rodrigues and Atty. Harlin Neil Abayon III revisit the heated exchange between prosecution lawyer Chel Diokno and defense lawyer Michael Poa over subpoenas seeking Duterte’s financial records, including documents dating to years before she became vice president. Abayon, a lawyer, former AANGAT TAYO party-list representative and former House deputy minority leader, explains why the defense can argue that such a broad search risks becoming a “fishing expedition.” The key question, he says, is whether records from Duterte’s earlier years in public office may be used when the impeachable offenses being tried must be tied to her current term as vice president. The Senate impeachment court ultimately drew a line between the two. It allowed records from earlier years to help establish a financial baseline for examining Duterte’s assets and transactions during her current term, while limiting their use so they could not become the basis for entirely new impeachable offenses from before her vice presidency. For Abayon, that distinction shows how the court is trying to balance the prosecution’s search for evidence with the limits raised by the defense. Watch the full episode here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JckyukqSb/