By Jose Cielito Reganit
MANILA – Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro said Wednesday the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte are entering the “territory of forensic truth” with the hearing centered on statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records rather than oral testimony.
Luistro, chair of the House Committee on Justice, said the hearing turns from witness-based testimony to a document-and-data confrontation over the Vice President’s alleged unexplained wealth.
“Today, we expect further evidence, from the Office of the Ombudsman, from the BIR, from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and especially from the AMLC,” she said in her opening speech, stressing that the hearing was moving into a phase where the committee would study records that are harder to spin and evade.
She said the panel will tackle the SALN, BIR tax records, and AMLC reports for study, comparison, and analysis.
Luistro said this stage of the proceedings would “test discrepancies through hard records, not competing narratives.”
“And numbers, unlike people, do not have motives. Numbers do not lie,” she said, stressing that the committee was no longer dealing with opinion or messaging, but with facts that either line up or fall apart.
Luistro said the stakes are higher because the figures under review involve public money entrusted by taxpayers who expect every peso to be used lawfully.
She said that once the SALN, BIR, and AMLC records are laid side by side, they begin to tell a story that no press conference or diversion can erase.
“Because numbers, once laid bare, speak with a clarity that cuts through noise, and when they point to a discrepancy, they do not whisper. They demand to be answered,” she said.
She noted that if the Vice President will not speak before the committee, the numbers will do the talking for her.
Luistro added that the committee would follow the evidence wherever it leads and would not be distracted by arguments made outside the hearing room.
“At ang direksyon natin ngayon ay simple, ngunit matibay (Our direction today is simple but strong): we follow the evidence, wherever it leads. Hindi tayo magpapadala sa ingay. Hindi tayo lilihis sa proseso (We will not be swayed by noise; we will not deviate from the process),” she said.
“Let the evidence speak. Let the numbers testify. Let the chips fall where they may,” Luistro said. (PNA)
