MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte testified Tuesday that the city government had 19 transactions with GenCorp Industries Inc., four more than the 15 previously identified in testimony by a Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) witness.
Testifying as a hostile witness before the Senate impeachment court in the trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, the Davao City mayor confirmed the 19 transactions but said he had no personal knowledge of GenCorp’s corporate records.
GenCorp was among the companies listed in the pice President’s 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
At the resumption of the trial, both sides confirmed that Duterte had submitted documents covering 19 GenCorp transactions.
Prosecution counsel Theodore Te said 15 matched transactions previously identified by PhilGEPS Division Chief Rendell Sopeña.
The other four were not covered by Sopeña’s testimony and were not included in the PhilGEPS summary presented during his testimony.
Defense counsel Justin Gular clarified that this did not mean the four transactions were absent from PhilGEPS records or had not been produced by the agency.
Presiding Officer Francis Escudero summarized the distinction, noting that the PhilGEPS witness had identified 15 transactions while Duterte’s documents showed 19. The prosecution agreed.
The mayor also testified that 13 of the 19 GenCorp contracts had been completed and paid, while six remained ongoing.
During questioning, Te asked Duterte whether he had personally examined GenCorp’s corporate documents.
The mayor said he had not, explaining that he saw no irregularity that would have prompted him to do so.
“Because there was no irregularity,” Mayor Duterte replied.
He added that he could not personally examine every document submitted for government procurement.
“I cannot look at all of the submissions for procurement,” he said.
Meanwhile, Duterte also confirmed that GenCorp was the sole bidder for a food and catering services contract for the Davao City government.
“Does ‘single calculated responsive bidder’ mean there was no other bidder competing with the winning bidder?” Te asked.
“I think that was what it suggested,” Mayor Duterte replied.
“So it was the only one?” Te followed up.
“Yes, sir,” the mayor said.
