FORTY-NINE contracts worth a combined P35.878 million were awarded by various government agencies to a corporation linked to Vice President Sara Duterte, a state procurement official testified on Tuesday.
Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division chief Rendell Sopeña confirmed that GenCorp Industries Inc. received 49 government contract awards from July 21, 2022 to June 2026.
The period covered by the records began less than a month after Duterte assumed office as vice president on June 30, 2022.
“We searched the repository, or the procurement database, using GenCorp Industries Inc. as the merchant. Upon conducting the search in the procurement database, it resulted in 49 contracts awarded to GenCorp Industries Inc.,” Sopeña said under questioning from lead House prosecutor Gerville Luistro.
PhilGEPS, which operates under the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service, is an electronic portal containing information on government procurement opportunities, awards and transactions.
Based on their procurement records, Sopeña said 15 contract awards from the Davao City government totaled P34,216,900, accounting for 95.37 percent of the P35.878-million total.
Another 33 contract awards from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in Region 11 were worth P1,331,288, or 3.71 percent of the total.
One contract award from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Region 11 was worth P330,000, or 0.92 percent.
Duterte listed herself as a stockholder of GenCorp Industries Inc. in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) from 2016 when the corporation was still named Timesquare Bee Foods Corp.
Luistro confirmed that the 49 contracts were awarded during Duterte’s term as vice president, from 2022 to 2026.
But Defense counsel Roberto Batungbacal said that the contracts were awarded when Duterte was no longer a local government official.
Batungbacal also manifested that it was “interesting” that the prosecution was able to present graphs based on the document, noting that Luistro had said it was the first time they had seen the document submitted by Sopeña.
Luistro said the prosecution has many volunteer lawyers.
Judicial notice
The House lead prosecutor, meanwhile, moved for the Senate impeachment court to take judicial notice of a previous witness’ testimony that Duterte herself had declared that she was a shareholder of GenCorp.
She also asked the court to take mandatory judicial notice of the fact that the local chief executive of Davao City and the head of procuring entity is Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who is the vice president’s brother.
Ruling on the prosecution’s motion, Escudero said the court took judicial notice of the laws cited by Luistro.
“But not as to the interpretation, meaning, nor application of those laws according to the view of one party, only as to what the laws actually state,” Escudero said.
“As to whether or not Mayor Duterte is the brother of, I think that will be proven in due course when the mayor is presented,” he added.
The presiding officer also said that another witness had testified that GenCorp’s corporate records do not show Duterte as a stockholder or director of the corporation.
Mayor Duterte has also been subpoenaed by the impeachment court to testify next week.
He previously said the Davao City government’s transactions with GenCorp reached more than P33.2 million across 19 contracts.
The mayor also said he and other local government officials were not aware of the vice president’s alleged link to GenCorp.
Tuesday’s proceedings at the Senate concluded after Sopeña’s direct examination, with the defense scheduled to cross-examine him next week.
The impeachment court is set to hear oral arguments from the prosecution and defense on Wednesday on the number of votes required to convict Duterte.
The GenCorp records form part of the prosecution’s evidence under Article II, which covers allegations involving Duterte’s assets, SALNs and business interests.
Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, reported a net worth of about P98.66 million in their 2025 SALN, up from about P71.66 million in 2022.
Sopeña’s testimony followed the presentation of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records involving companies Duterte had declared among her business interests.
Through her counsel, Duterte has denied the allegations against her.
Former trade envoy
SEC records presented before the Senate impeachment court showed extensive corporate links between former president Rodrigo Duterte’s former trade envoy to China, Jaime Tan Cruz, and businesses declared as interests by Vice President Duterte in her SALNs.
The testimony from SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo del Rosario placed Cruz, his holding company JTC Group of Companies, and members of his family at the center of questions concerning ownership, corporate control, and possible beneficial interests in several food and commercial enterprises.
Del Rosario identified Cruz as a named incorporator of Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Great Jolly Times Food Corp., Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corp., Davao Emerging Taipans Corp. and Davao Bounty Times Food Corp.
Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo established that Cruz was the same person appointed by former president Duterte as a special envoy to China for trade and investment, and who was reportedly offered the PhilHealth chairmanship but declined.
Private prosecutor Erwin Matib confirmed both identifications during the proceedings.
The hearing also focused on GenCorp Industries Inc., which Duterte declared as a business interest in her 2024 and 2025 SALNs.
Del Rosario said the controlling stake could provide corporate authority, including representation on the board and influence over corporate decisions.
Senator-Judge Bam Aquino then examined GenCorp’s corporate officers. Del Rosario identified Kimberly Justine Y. Cruz as president, Richie Yvette L. Cruz as treasurer, and Girley S. De La Cruz as corporate secretary.
Aquino said the officers could potentially provide information about Duterte’s role in the company, to which del Rosario agreed.
Del Rosario also confirmed that GenCorp, Times Square B and Great Jolly Times Food were separate legal corporations. He said Duterte’s name did not appear in the SEC records of GenCorp or Times Square B.
Asked how Duterte could declare an interest in a company without appearing in its incorporation records, del Rosario said ownership could potentially be exercised indirectly through a corporate shareholder.
He cited the possibility that a person might control a company that itself holds shares in another corporation, allowing the person to consider the latter as a business interest.
The SEC official confirmed that JTC was among GenCorp’s shareholders. He also said the shareholders of Jolly Foods were members of the Cruz family.
The testimony did not, by itself, establish that Duterte owned or controlled JTC or GenCorp through a nominee arrangement. It instead highlighted questions about the relationship between her SALN declarations and the companies’ corporate records.
Earlier testimony cited by the Philippine News Agency showed that GenCorp reported total sales of P1.04 billion from 2021 to 2024, with net income of P8.04 million during the same period. Del Rosario said he found no declaration of dividends in the financial statements or GIS he examined for those years.
Conflict of interest
Prosecutors raised a possible constitutional violation and conflict of interest after records showed GenCorp secured P35.9 million in government contracts after Duterte was elected vice president.
Former Surigao del Sur representative and prosecution adviser Robert Ace Barbers said they are seeking to establish that Duterte retained a financial interest in GenCorp while the company was doing business with the government.
“Since there is a law prohibiting the president and vice president from engaging in any business — or from having any pecuniary or financial interest — this points to a possible violation of our Constitution,” Barbers said in Filipino at a post-trial press briefing on Tuesday.
He referred to the business interests declared in Duterte’s SALN and questioned participation in transactions involving a local government led by her or her brother.
“So, that is very clear, there is a conflict of interest and probably undue advantage on the part of the company that she is connected with,” Barbers said.
“There is indeed a prohibition — a prohibition regarding financial interest — because this is where the issue of conflict of interest arises, given the blood relationship between the local chief executive, Mayor Baste, and one of the shareholders of GenCorp, the company that won the contract with City Hall,” prosecution spokesman and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said in Filipino.
“So, on that aspect alone, there is definitely a violation. Not to mention, of course, that we go back to the fact that the vice president should have divested,” he added.
Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution prohibits the president, vice president, Cabinet members and their deputies or assistants from directly or indirectly participating in any business or being financially interested in any government contract during their tenure. The provision also requires them to strictly avoid conflicts of interest.
