Baste Duterte: I Would Have Blocked GenCorp Deals

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte faced the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday, Sept. 29, as a hostile witness, reiterating that he was unaware that his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, had a business interest in GenCorp Industries Inc.

He told the court that had he known, he would have prohibited the city government from awarding contracts to the company.

The mayor took the stand in relation to his sister’s alleged unexplained wealth, including interest in GenCorp, one of the companies declared in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 2024 and 2025.

The Vice President was listed as a stockholder of GenCorp.

It was found that the firm was awarded 15 contracts in Davao City worth P34.2 million from 2022 to 2026, which raised questions of conflict of interest. The mayor, however, said there were actually 19 contracts.

The younger Duterte said he only heard of GenCorp when it was raised before the impeachment court, insisting he would have blocked the contracts had he known that his sister was a stockholder of the firm.

He confirmed that he was Davao City’s head of the procuring entity, or HOPE, and remained the final accountable officer even when contracts were signed by an authorized representative.

However, he admitted he had not examined GenCorp’s corporate records or personally reviewed any of the 19 contracts awarded to the company by the Davao City government.

Of the 19 contracts, the mayor said 13 had been completed, delivered and paid, while six are ongoing.

“I would not allow it,” he said.

Mayor Duterte also confirmed that he is a business partner of Jaime Tan Cruz, the former China special envoy of his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who also has corporate ties with the Vice President and GenCorp.

Counsel for the prosecution Theodore Te presented the 2026 General Information Sheet of Chinese Gen Bee Foods Corp., which Mayor Duterte confirmed listed him as a shareholder along with his brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Cruz.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records presented in court showed Cruz and Vice President Duterte as shareholders of Metro City Chow Foods Corp., with Cruz the largest original subscriber and the Vice President the second largest.

Cruz is also connected to GenCorp through JTC Group of Companies Philippines Inc., which holds a 54.9 percent controlling stake in GenCorp. SEC records showed Cruz representing JTC Group in GenCorp.

Cruz also has longstanding ties with the Duterte family outside their corporate relationships.

The former president, now facing charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, appointed Cruz in 2019 as his special envoy to China for trade and investments.

Despite acknowledging Cruz as his business partner, Mayor Duterte said that he was also unaware of Cruz’s connection to GenCorp.

VP did not intervene

The Vice President did not intervene in any procurement contracts in Davao City, according to the defense team.

During cross-examination, defense lawyer Justin Nicol Gular asked Mayor Duterte whether the Vice President intervened – directly or indirectly – in the administration of Davao City from 2022 to 2025.

“Now, since becoming the Vice President of the Philippines, or even prior to her election as such, did you ever receive any special requests from her in connection with any transaction or contract involving the local government unit (LGU) of Davao City?” Gular asked the mayor.

“No,” he replied.

Gular said there was no request from the Vice President to give special treatment to GenCorp.

“Now since becoming the Vice President, and for the record please clarify this mayor, did you receive any calls, messages or texts from her asking for special treatment for GenCorp?” Gular asked.

Again, the mayor said, “No.”

“Now, being the brother of the Vice President herself, and having known her for years, do you think that it’s in her character as a person and as a politician to ask these kinds of special favors?” Gular.

“No,” the younger Duterte said.

Modified rules

Mayor Duterte said he would have prohibited the awarding of contracts to GenCorp had he known that his sister had business interests in the company.

“If she was the stockholder of GenCorp, and you knew about it, you would not allow any contract in Davao, right?” Escudero asked.

“I would not allow it,” the mayor answered.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo confronted the mayor with the city’s own bids and awards guidelines, which strictly require a supplier to be operational in the market for at least five years.

Tulfo pointed out that GenCorp was only registered with the SEC in 2020 but won city contracts from 2022 to 2026.

“The BAC may have modified the rules for that particular procurement submission,” Mayor Duterte said.

Meanwhile, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian questioned why the firm was frequently awarded contracts and that it was the lone bidder at least three to four times.

Hostile witness?

The defense opposed the move of the prosecution to declare the mayor as a hostile witness in the ongoing impeachment trial against the Vice President.

In his manifestation, defense lawyer Gular reacted after private prosecutor Theodore Te asked presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero to declare Mayor Duterte as a hostile witness as the trial tackled Duterte’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.

“We do not think that they were able to qualify the witness as a hostile witness. Number one, political statements do not establish hostility towards this court and there was no hostile statement made by the witness towards this court,” Gular said.

For his part, Escudero considered Mayor Duterte as a hostile witness.

“Court, therefore, declares that the adverse interest of the witness (Mayor Duterte) has been established and declares him a hostile witness,” Escudero added.

No sub judice

Despite his controversial remarks regarding his sister’s impeachment, the mayor is not covered by the impeachment court’s sub judice rule as he was only sworn in as a witness yesterday, according to Escudero.

The presiding officer specifically mentioned a public statement issued by the mayor on Sept. 22, claiming that he and other Davao City government employees were completely unaware of the Vice President’s ties to GenCorp.

Escudero said the gag order only takes effect once an individual is formally sworn into the proceedings.

‘Sarsuela remark’

The defense backed the call of the prosecution asking the impeachment court to ensure equal application of the sub judice rule after the Vice President likened the proceedings to a “sarsuela” or musical play.

Prosecution spokesman Jay Tolosa said the remark of Duterte could go beyond a violation of the sub judice rule and could even be considered contempt of court.

“Well, for us, we will deal with it if there is an issue in the impeachment court, in the statements of our Vice President, whichever it may be, for us, we will just address it,” Poa said.

Cayetano shields Mayor Duterte

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano took up the cudgels for Mayor Duterte, saying local chief executives don’t have enough time to pore over voluminous documents reaching their desks.

Cayetano said being the husband of Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, he knows the grueling job of a mayor that requires delegating his authority to a representative.

“Under the law and regulations, there are some that you can delegate, but there are some that you are required to sign personally. But the point I want to make is this. You will not have any other time to govern if you’re going to have to look at each and every company, each and every document, each and every person,” Cayetano said.

When Cayetano asked him if he had time to look at the “attachments of every single document,” Mayor Duterte said: “It’s virtually impossible.”

Ready for Trillanes

The defense is ready for former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is expected to testify on the alleged sources of the reported P6.7-billion wealth of the Vice President and her husband Manases Carpio.

Poa said the defense is prepared to cross-examine Trillanes.

No trial today, Sept. 30

The Senate has canceled the impeachment trial on Wednesday, Sept. 30, to give participating parties a “strategic procedural pause” ahead of grueling, whole-day marathon sessions starting Oct. 1.

Denying that this will result in a delay, impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said the court is in fact ahead of schedule after the prosecution presented six witnesses in eight days.

“Since opening Article II on September 14, the proceedings have advanced at a rigorous pace, with the prosecution already presenting six witnesses in an eight-day span that demonstrates a clear commitment to moving the trial forward without unnecessary stalling through highly focused presentation of evidence,” read a statement by Impeachment Court spokesman Reginald Tongol. – With Neil Jayson Servallos, Marc Jayson Cayabyab