SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) records continued to identify Vice President Sara Z. Duterte as a Metro City Chow Foods Corporation director through 2025, the year the company reported that its board approved its 2024 and 2023 financial statements.
SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Atty. Gerardo F. Del Rosario confirmed the entries during a redirect examination by private prosecutor Atty. Erwin Matib on the 28th day of Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Del Rosario had testified during cross-examination that the SEC did not possess meeting minutes showing whether Duterte personally attended board or compensation committee meetings.
On redirect, Matib returned to the corporate documents themselves: the company’s General Information Sheets (GIS), audited financial statements, Statement of Management Responsibility and the provisions read in court on the authority of a board of directors.
Asked to identify Duterte’s recorded role, Del Rosario answered, “Ayon po sa General Information Sheet ng Metro City Chow Foods Corporation, from 2018 to 2025, nag-a-appear po na si VP Sara Duterte ay member of the board of directors at stockholder ng nasabing kumpanya.”
Duterte’s December 31, 2024, Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth separately lists Metro City Chow under her business interests and financial connections. The SALN identifies her as an incorporator and stockholder and gives 2007 as the year the interest was acquired.
During Del Rosario’s direct examination on Monday, he read Metro City Chow records listing Duterte with 500 shares worth ₱50,000, equivalent to 20 percent of the company. The 2025 GIS carried the same shareholding. In questions from Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Del Rosario also confirmed that the company’s 2024 and 2025 filings listed Duterte as a compensation committee member. Those entries came from records submitted by the corporation; during Tuesday’s cross-examination, he said the SEC had no meeting minutes confirming her attendance at board or committee meetings.
Matib then directed Del Rosario to Metro City Chow’s audited financial statements for 2024 and 2023. The witness identified the Statement of Management Responsibility and read its first paragraph to the impeachment court.
“The management of Metro City Chow Foods Corporation is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023,” Del Rosario read, adding that the statement referred to the prescribed financial-reporting framework and internal controls necessary to keep the statements free from material misstatement due to fraud or error.
The prosecution next asked him to read the portion concerning the board’s role in the company’s financial reporting process.
“The board of directors is responsible for overseeing the company’s financial reporting process,” Del Rosario read.
He continued: “The board of directors review and approve the financial statements and submit the same to the stockholders.”
The witness confirmed that the Statement of Management Responsibility was notarized and was among the requirements for the SEC to accept a company’s financial statements. Asked where accountability rested under the statement, he answered that it was placed with the board of directors, based on the language written in the document.
Matib then brought Del Rosario to the notes accompanying the same audited financial statements. The witness read the entry fixing the date on which the statements were approved.
“The accompanying financial statements of the company as [of] and for the years 2024 and 2023 were approved and authorized by its board of directors on March 31, 2025,” Del Rosario said.
The redirect did not establish that Duterte personally attended the meeting or individually voted to approve the statements. During the brief recross, defense counsel Atty. Justin Nicol Gular asked Del Rosario whether the SEC had personal knowledge of her participation.
“On personal knowledge, kung mayroong nangyaring ganito, hindi po namin alam, but we just rely on what is written in the document,” Del Rosario answered.
Gular also noted that a board could act through the required quorum and did not necessarily need every director’s vote. Del Rosario agreed, subject to any higher quorum imposed by the corporation’s articles.
The GIS listed Duterte as director and stockholder. The audited financial statements assigned oversight and approval responsibilities to the board, while the accompanying note recorded board approval on March 31, 2025. The SEC records reviewed did not include minutes establishing Duterte’s attendance or vote.
Matib closed the documentary sequence by asking Del Rosario to read Section 22 of the Revised Corporation Code on the powers of a board. Del Rosario read: “The board of directors or trustees shall exercise the corporate powers, conduct all business, and control all properties of the corporation.”
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