THE prosecution expects Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte to testify next week in the Senate impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.
“We hope that Mayor Baste Duterte will appear because we already requested a subpoena, and I believe he has already been subpoenaed. And we expect him to be present,” prosecution spokesman Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur told Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
Asked what could happen if the vice president’s brother does not show up, Alonto Adiong said Mayor Duterte understands the subpoena power of the impeachment court and the consequences of not honoring it.
“Being a public servant and a mayor at that, he understands, I believe, the subpoena power of the Senate. As to whether or not he would go, that is entirely up to him. But on the enforcement of the subpoena power, he has to come,” he said.
“Otherwise, we don’t want to preempt what would be the decision or the course of action of the Senate acting as impeachment court. What would be their response should Mayor Baste Duterte not heed the subpoena of the Senate? But we expect him to be there,” he added.
Alonto Adiong also said the prosecution would ask the impeachment court to qualify the Davao City mayor as a hostile witness.
“Not only the blood relation between the vice president and the sitting mayor of Davao City, but also the way that the prosecution would like to present evidence based on the companies that have been reflected, declared by the former vice president in her SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth),” he said.
He said some of the companies are “actively participating in open bidding and competitive bidding” in Davao City, where the vice president’s brother, “as mayor and chairman of…the bidding procurement committee, basically has the final say to award government contracts to these companies.”
“That alone would signify how his position is adverse to the position of the House prosecution panel. So definitely, he would be treated as a hostile witness,” he stressed.
Alonto Adiong pointed out that Mayor Duterte has admitted that a company listed in the vice president’s SALN has won contracts from the city government.
“From that premise alone, we anticipate that he is a hostile witness. And that’s what we intend to present to him to the court,” he reiterated.
A business entity listed in the vice president’s SALN is GenCorp.
A prosecution witness from the government procurement system testified this week that GenCorp. has won 39 contracts worth at least P35 million from three state agencies based in Davao City, including the Davao City local government unit
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