Manila, April 28 -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has ordered the issuance of Letters of Authority (LOAs) to conduct tax audits on Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, her spouse Manases Carpio, and nine business entities linked to the couple.

In a statement Tuesday, the BIR said the firms subject to audit include Carpio Lawyers (formerly Carpio and Duterte Lawyers), Zelta Matiem Salon, City Hall King Chow Foods Corporation, Davao Bounty Times Foods Corporation, Madayaw Fisheries Inc., Davao Emerging Taipans Corporation, Amianan Shores, Inc., Cale88 Foods Corporation, and Geometry Security and Investigation Agency, Inc.

The bureau said the move follows its determination that probable cause exists to warrant a formal audit investigatio...