Prosecutors want BIR head Henares
on witness stand

IMPEACHMENT PROSECUTORS still insisted on calling Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares to the witness stand despite a ruling by Senator-Judges that prosecutors can no longer present evidence proving ill-gotten wealth on the part of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Presiding Officer Juan Ponce Enrile stopped lead prosecutor Niel Tupas in his tracks when Tupas tried to summon Henares to the stand.

Enrile said that he does not “see the materiality of the introduction of BIR records with respect to the two allegations” that the court has allowed.

The Senator-Judges only agreed to allow evidence on Articles 2.2 and 2.3, which refer to charges that Corona failed to disclose his statement of assets liabilities and net worth; and the charge that Corona did not include some of his properties in his SALN declaration.

Tupas for his part argued that prosecutors want Henares to prove the veracity of the documents that the prosecution wants to present.