DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s disclosure that Gencorp Industries Inc. secured 19 city contracts worth ₱33,263,161 strengthened the prosecution’s request to call him as a witness in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial, House prosecution spokespersons said Tuesday.
The statement increased the previously reported value of the transactions from approximately ₱14.32 million. Duterte said 13 contracts had been completed and six remained ongoing. He placed their start in 2022, the year his sister assumed the vice presidency.
He also said city officials did not know that the Vice President had declared an interest in Gencorp and that her name did not appear in the company documents submitted for the transactions.
At the prosecution’s noontime briefing, House Prosecution Adviser Ace Barbers placed that statement beside the documents examined by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director Atty. Gerardo F. Del Rosario.
“Wala naman talaga ang pangalan ni Vice President Sara Duterte doon sa GIS ng Gencorp. Pero ang pangalan sa SALN ng ating pangalawang pangulo ay nakalagay doon na siya ay isang shareholder doon sa sinasabing Gencorp,” Barbers said.
Duterte’s December 31, 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) placed Gencorp under her business interests and described her as a stockholder whose interest was acquired in 2013. Del Rosario testified that her name did not appear in the company’s incorporation papers or General Information Sheets (GIS) reviewed in court.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Mayor Duterte’s new figure expanded the scope of the transactions that the prosecution wanted him to explain.
“Una, na-correct iyong previous initial amount, which is, I think, ₱14 million. Pero with the confirmation of Mayor Baste Duterte, aside from iyong kaniyang pagsasabi na 19 transactions, biglang lumobo—naging ₱33 million pala,” Alonto Adiong said.
The mayor’s statement said four contracts were secured through competitive public bidding and 15 through small-value procurement. It also said all 19 were processed, reported and published through the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.
Alonto Adiong said the mismatch between the Vice President’s sworn declaration and the SEC records remained unanswered by the mayor’s statement.
“Why did the Vice President declare in her SALN for two consecutive years as part po ng kaniyang company na mayroon siyang financial interest itong Gencorp na ito? So it led to a bigger, intriguing question,” he said.
The SEC witness had testified that JTC Group of Companies held 54.99 percent of Gencorp in its 2025 GIS. Del Rosario said the beneficial-ownership declaration would identify the natural persons who ultimately owned or controlled shares held through a corporate shareholder, but that form was outside his department’s custody.
“This is an evolving issue which I believe the public is interested to know in the coming days of the trial,” Alonto Adiong said.
Barbers said the prosecution did not create the Gencorp entry attributed to Duterte. It appeared in her own SALNs.
“Walang pangalan si Vice President Sara Duterte sa GIS na isinumite dito sa SEC, as testified to by the witness. Pero sa SALN ng ating pangalawang pangulo ay malinaw na sinabi niya na siya ay mayroong shareholdings o mayroon siyang business interest sa corporation na iyan,” Barbers said.
Alonto Adiong made the same distinction when asked whether the prosecution could prove Duterte’s interest.
“Hindi kami ang nagsasabing may financial interest ang Vice President sa Gencorp. Siya mismo ang nagsasabi dahil dineklara niya ito sa kaniyang SALN,” he said.
Barbers described the mayor’s acknowledgment of the transactions as potentially significant to the prosecution’s presentation.
“This could be tantamount to a smoking gun. Bakit? Kasi hindi naman nanggaling sa amin ito. Galing na rin ito mismo sa ating butihing mayor ng Davao City,” Barbers said.
The prosecution did not treat the mayor’s statement as a substitute for his testimony.
Alonto Adiong said it supplied additional grounds for the court to hear directly from him about the 19 contracts and the company records used during the procurement process.
“It only vindicated the request of the prosecution to subpoena Mayor Duterte dahil mas napalakas iyong position ng prosecution na ang kaniyang magiging testimonya would be indispensable for the court to fully appreciate the case that is being leveled against the Vice President,” Alonto Adiong said.
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