DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian Duterte on Tuesday confirmed that the city government had 19 transactions with GenCorp Industries Inc., which Vice President Sara Duterte had listed as a business interest in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
This was four more than the 15 previously identified by a Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) witness during the vice president’s impeachment trial.
The mayor, who goes by the nickname “Baste,” is the vice president’s brother, and testified as a hostile witness on the 31st day of the Senate impeachment trial, facing questions about Davao City’s contracts, worth P35 million, with GenCorp Industries Inc.
Vice President Duterte had declared under oath in her SALN for 2024 and 2025 that she owned shares of stock in GenCorp, which the prosecution has flagged as a direct and clear violation of Article 7, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution, which bans high executive officials from participating in any business.
At the start of the proceedings, House prosecutor Theodore Te said 15 of the 19 transactions matched those previously identified by PhilGEPS Division Chief Rendell Sopeña.
The other four were not covered by Sopeña’s testimony or included in the PhilGEPS summary presented during his appearance.
Presiding Officer Francis Escudero summarized the distinction, noting that Sopeña had identified 15 transactions while documents submitted by Duterte showed 19. The prosecution agreed.
Mayor Duterte also testified that 13 of the 19 transactions had been completed and paid, while six are ongoing.
Asked by Te whether he had personally examined GenCorp’s corporate documents, the mayor said he had not, saying he saw no irregularity that would have prompted him to do so.
He also said he could not personally examine every document submitted for government procurement.
Duterte confirmed that GenCorp was the sole bidder for a food and catering services contract with the Davao City government.
During his interjection, Senator-Judge Sherwin Gatchalian questioned Duterte about GenCorp’s repeated contracts with the city from 2022 to 2026, saying procurement normally attracts multiple competing suppliers.
Duterte said he had raised the matter with lawyer Tristan Domingo, the official he said handled procurement transactions on his behalf.
“His answer was simply because they were the most qualified and they complied with all the requirements,” Duterte said.
He said that he had not personally examined the abstracts of quotations, or see how much the suppliers bid against GenCorp.
Duterte also said he did not consider 19 contracts over five years particularly high given the overall volume of city transactions.
The mayor testified that he would not have allowed GenCorp to secure city government contracts had he known that his sister was a stockholder of the company.
The mayor said he had neither seen nor been familiar with Sara’s SALNs and was unaware that she had declared an interest in GenCorp.
Earlier, the mayor said he only learned about GenCorp after the company was raised during the impeachment proceedings.
Duterte also testified that Jaime T. Cruz is his business associate and a friend of his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
He 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 Corp.
Cruz has been identified during the proceedings as the majority owner of GenCorp.
Duterte acknowledged that Cruz was appointed by his father as a special envoy to China and that they were business partners in a company separate from GenCorp.
Asked whether he knew that Cruz was GenCorp’s listed main stockholder, Duterte said he did not.
During questioning by Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros, Duterte described Cruz as his father’s friend and a known businessman in Davao.
Questions over GenCorp’s ownership have figured prominently in the impeachment proceedings because Sara Duterte declared GenCorp among her business interests in her 2024 and 2025 SALNs. Securities and Exchange Commission documents, however, do not list her as a direct incorporator or director of GenCorp.
SEC testimony showed that JTC Group of Companies Philippines Inc. is GenCorp’s largest corporate shareholder, with a 55 percent stake. Corporate records identify Cruz as JTC Group’s representative in GenCorp.
When Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo asked if Duterte would look into his staff’s handling of the transactions, the mayor said there was “nothing” wrong as long as Sara’s name did not appear on the contracts.
Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano questioned Duterte about the volume of documents handled by a local chief executive.
Duterte said a mayor may have to sign about 50,000 payroll documents and that personally reviewing every document and its attachments would be “virtually impossible.”
Bring it to court
Also on Tuesday, impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said those alleging that Vice President Duterte violated the sub judice rule should bring the matter before the Senate tribunal instead of litigating it in the court of public opinion.
Tongol’s statement came after members of the House prosecution panel urged the impeachment court to act on Duterte’s description of her trial as a “sarsuwela” (a theatrical show) and on other statements questioning the proceedings and the independence of senator-judges.
“If anyone has an issue regarding the vice president, it should be raised in open court,” Tongol said, stressing that lawyers should observe the proper forum for airing such grievances in accordance with the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability.
The prosecution has argued that Duterte’s remarks could constitute a violation of the sub judice rule, which restricts parties from publicly discussing the merits of an ongoing case. Private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said the vice president’s “sarsuwela” remark could be viewed as an attack on the integrity of the impeachment court. The House prosecution formally asked the tribunal to examine the statement.
The issue follows the impeachment court’s earlier action against two members of the prosecution panel, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon and Tolosa, who were ordered to explain statements allegedly violating the same rule.
Ridon and Tolosa have maintained that their statements concerned the procedure and progress of the impeachment proceedings, rather than the merits of the case. They also questioned why similar scrutiny had not been applied to Duterte’s public statements.
Ridon has since received a stern warning from the impeachment court and said he would exercise greater restraint in commenting on the trial while continuing his duties as a lead prosecutor.
