MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte testified Tuesday that businessman Jaime T. Cruz is his business associate and has business ties with members of the Duterte family, including Vice President Sara Duterte.
Baste made the disclosure during questioning by House private prosecutor Theodore Te on the 31st day of the Senate impeachment trial of his sister.
He also confirmed that Cruz’s name appears alongside his and that of his brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, in the corporate records of Chinese Gen Bee Food Corporation.
Cruz has been identified in the proceedings as the majority owner of GenCorp Industries Inc., which had 19 transactions with the Davao City government based on documents presented to the impeachment court.
During the direct examination, Te asked Duterte whether he knew Cruz.
“Yes, sir,” Mayor Duterte replied.
“You know him because he is your business associate, correct?” Te followed up.
“Yes, sir,” Baste said.
He likewise acknowledged that Cruz was the same person appointed by his father as a special envoy to China.
Asked whether Cruz was also the person his father had offered to become president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Mayor Duterte said he did not know.
Te then asked whether Baste was aware that Cruz was the listed main stockholder of GenCorp Industries Inc.
“No,” Mayor Duterte replied.
Asked whether this was because he had not examined GenCorp’s corporate documents, Duterte again answered, “No.”
During questioning by Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros, Duterte confirmed that Cruz is a friend of his father and a known businessman in Davao.
The mayor also confirmed that Cruz is a friend of his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and that they are business partners in a company separate from GenCorp.
Hontiveros asked Duterte how he would describe Cruz’s relationship with the Duterte family, noting that Cruz had served in his father’s administration, had common business interests with the Duterte siblings and was also a contractor of the local government he headed.
“Maybe not entirely in the family, but he’s a friend of my father. He’s a known businessman in Davao,” Baste replied.
Earlier in the proceedings, Duterte testified that he had not personally examined GenCorp’s corporate records because he saw no irregularity that prompted him to do so.
GenCorp has figured in the impeachment proceedings after being listed among the companies in Vice President Sara Duterte’s 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
Davao City had 19 transactions with GenCorp, according to documents Duterte presented to the impeachment court, while 15 transactions had previously been identified in testimony by a Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System witness.
