Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 28: VP Sara's declared business gets over P33-M worth of govt contracts

The 28th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte featured the House prosecution panel focusing on GenCorp. Industries, Inc., one of the business interests that Vice President Sara Duterte declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net (SALN) worth in 2024 and 2025.

House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas presented Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña, who testified that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) Region 11 alone awarded 33 contracts to GenCorp.

The Davao City government awarded the same firm 15 contracts, while the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Region 11 awarded one contract.

These contracts were granted to GenCorp. during the Vice Presidency of Duterte amounted to over P33 million, according to Sopeña.

Luistro explained that they are presenting Sopeña and GenCorp.-won contracts as evidence to prove the subsection of Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment on unexplained wealth, which is the Vice President’s non-divestment of other business and financial interests.

Luistro also asked the Senate impeachment court to take judicial notice of the Vice President’s declaration of GenCorp. as part of her business interest in her SALN.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero granted Luistro’s motion but added that the court will also take judicial notice that the prosecution’s witness, Securities and Exchange Commission official Gerardo del Rosario, testified that the Vice President’s name did not appear on GenCorp.’s corporate records.

In a separate press conference, House prosecution panel adviser and former Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers and House prosecution panel spokesperson Zia Adiong said the Vice President’s GenCorp. entries in her 2024 and 2025 SALNs are admissions against interest.

“In [regular] courts, when it's an admission against interest, it is supreme in terms of appreciation of the court because it is an admission that won’t favor you and yet admit to it. In the same application here, she declared in her SALN that she has business interest in GenCorp. That would run contrary to her interest because she should have divested from businesses as provided by the Constitution,” Barbers said.

“The higher here is the one declaring the asset. That’s her SALN, she declared her interest there [in GenCorp.] for two years. That was not an honest mistake,” Adiong added.

During the questioning of Senator Judge Raffy Tulfo, Del Rosario also said that ownership of shares in a corporation is tantamount to business participation which is prohibited for the President and Vice President under the Constitution.

The provision states that, “The President, Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or assistants shall not… during said tenure, directly or indirectly, practice any other profession, participate in any business, or be financially interested in any contract with, or in any franchise, or special privilege granted by the Government or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries."

Tulfo's line of questions centered on the Vice President remaining on the Board of Directors of Metro City Chow Foods Corporation until 2025 or even after she was elected and assumed office as Vice President.

Also on Tuesday, private prosecutor Erwin Matib revealed that former Special Envoy to China Jaime T. Cruz, who served under former President Rodrigo Duterte, is the same person listed in the corporate records of firms linked to the Vice President and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio.

Ahead of Matib’s disclosure, SEC’s Del Rosario testified that Cruz's name appeared in the corporate records of the following companies connected to the Vice President and her husband:

• City Hall King Chow Foods Corporation
• Metro City Chow Foods Corporation
• Great Jolly Times Food Corporation
• Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corporation
• Davao Emerging Taipan Corporation and
• Davao Bounty Times Food Corporation

Later in the day, Senate impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said the Senate impeachment court can defer the scheduled September 23 voting on the threshold needed for a conviction because there are Senator judges who have appealed to their colleagues for more time to decide.

“There are Senator judges who are appealing for additional time because the parties might raise additional arguments which were not put forward by the amici curiae. They said they might need to study it further over the weekend to fully evaluate the merits ahead of deciding on their vote,” Tongol said in a press conference.

Amici curiae are the "friends of the court" invited to speak before the Senate impeachment court on the matter of the conviction threshold in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, these are: former Supreme Court Chief Justices Hilario Davide, Jr. Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno, and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna. — BAP, GMA News