Firm in VP Sara's SALN won millions in Davao City contracts

MANILA, Philippines – A company that Vice President Sara Duterte declared as one of her business interests won nearly P36 million in government contracts during her term, almost a third from the Davao City government, a procurement official testified on Tuesday, September 22.

Rendel Sopeña, division chief of the Electronic Government Procurement Operations Division of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), told the Senate impeachment court that the government's procurement database shows 49 contracts awarded to Gencorp Industries Inc. 

The City of Davao awarded 15 of the 49 contracts, worth P34.22 million, while PhilHealth Region 11 awarded 33 contracts worth P1.33 million. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Region 11 awarded one contract worth P330,000.

The contracts, worth P35,878,188 in all, were awarded between July 21, 2022 and June 23, 2026, according to the summary cited by Presiding Officer Sen. Chiz Escudero. 

Prosecutors confirmed that none of the awards predated Duterte's term as vice president.

Sopeña's testimony today comes as the House prosecution continues its presentation of evidence for Article II, which accuses Duterte of accumulating unexplained wealth. The prosecution said Duterte herself declared in her 2024 and 2025 statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) that she is a Gencorp shareholder. 

The 1987 Constitution expressly bars the president and vice president from participating in any business during their tenure.

Gencorp's corporate records, however, do not list Duterte as a stockholder or director, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director Gerardo Del Rosario testified yesterday and confirmed again today during the tail-end of his testimony. 

Escudero said the senator-judges would and should weigh both pieces of evidence. 

But lead prosecutor Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District), who conducted the direct examination for Sopeña, argued that Duterte's own declaration is the stronger document, given it was she who prepared her own SALN.

 "The admission came from the respondent herself," Luistro said.

Sopeña said he searched the PhilGEPS database for the merchant name "Gencorp Industries Inc." in response to the court's subpoena. He said he extracted 231 documents totaling 484 pages, then printed, certified, and signed each one.  

Among the Davao City contracts Sopeña identified were one worth P5.14 million and another worth P6.28 million. Another document was a request for quotation from the city for catering services.

The OWWA contract was covered by a memorandum of agreement between OWWA's Region 11 office and "Jollibee Bolton." 

Sopeña read from the document that Jollibee Bolton is under Gencorp Industries Inc. and is a franchise of Jollibee Foods Corporation. When Luistro asked whether this was the Jollibee known to the public, a question the defense had objected to, the PhilGEPS official said he was "not familiar." 

Sopeña stressed that the data in PhilGEPS come from the government agencies themselves, which are responsible for encoding procurement details and uploading documents.  

Defense counsel Roberto Batungbacal noted that the contracts were awarded after Duterte was no longer mayor of Davao.

"So it is clear your honor that these contracts were awarded during the time that the vice president was not in the city of Davao anymore," Batongbacal said.

Escudero, however, did not carry this objection given that the documents are relevant to the trial precisely because it did not cover the period in which she was mayor of Davao City. 

"If she was still the mayor I would not have allowed it because it would have been irrelevant for our purposes," Escudero said.

Batungbacal also objected to the line of questioning on relevance. 

To this, Luistro countered that the evidence relates to the final subsection of Article II, which accuses Duterte of non-divestment of business and financial interests. "And it is along this line that we are showing the participation of the respondent by way of the evidence being presented with respect to Gencorp Industries Incorporated," Luistro said.

At the end of her direct examination, Luistro asked the court to take judicial notice of, or formally accept without proof, several points. 

The first was that an Ombudsman records official had already testified on Duterte's 2024 and 2025 SALNs, in which Luistro said Duterte declared Gencorp shares acquired in 2013. 

She also cited Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution and two provisions of Republic Act 12009. Under those provisions, the head of a procuring entity approves the recommendations of the Bids and Awards Committee, and for local governments that head is the local chief executive. 

Luistro said the official who approves such resolutions in Davao City is Mayor Sebastian Duterte.

Batongbacal objected that these were not proper subjects of mandatory judicial notice.

Escudero took judicial notice of the laws Luistro cited, "but not as to the interpretation meaning nor application of those laws according to the view of one party only." 

He said any family relationship involving Basye would have to be proven when the mayor takes the witness stand. 

The vice president's brother is among the prosecution's upcoming witnesses.

Escudero also noted that while Duterte's SALNs presented in court mention Gencorp, the prosecution's own SEC witness testified that Gencorp's records do not show her as a stockholder or director. 

He said the court takes notice of both, and left it to the senator-judges to "evaluate, and weigh the testimony of those witnesses."

On Monday and Tuesday, Del Rosario testified that Duterte does not appear as an incorporator, director, or stockholder of Gencorp. 

Del Rosario said Gencorp's sales from 2021 to 2024 topped P1 billion, but the company declared no dividends in those years.

Earlier on Tuesday, Escudero had Del Rosario compare Duterte's SALNs with SEC records. Her 2024 SALN declares her a stockholder of Gencorp, with an entry suggesting the firm was formerly two other companies. 

SEC records show three separate firms, none of which lists her.

Asked how the two could be reconciled, Del Rosario said Duterte might hold her interest through a trust arrangement, or through control of a corporate shareholder.  

Sopeña will return for cross-examination on Monday, September 28, at 10 a.m.

The court will not hear witnesses on Wednesday, September 23. 

It will instead hold oral arguments on whether the court should overturn Escudero's ruling that 16 of 24 votes are needed to convict Duterte. 

Prosecutor Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal) will argue for the prosecution, while the defense will name its lawyer on Wednesday. 

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