Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte confirmed his business ties with Jaime T. Cruz, who is also a business associate of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Both Cruz and Sara are linked to Gencorp Industries Inc., a firm that won P34.2 million worth of contracts from Davao City.
Sebastian testified as a hostile witness in the Vice President’s impeachment trial where he denied knowing that his sister was a stockholder of Gencorp.
During direct examination by private prosecutor Theodore Te, Sebastian said he was in business with Cruz.
Te showed Sebastian the General Information Sheet of Chinese Gen Bee Foods Corp., which listed Cruz and Sebastian as shareholders, along with the mayor’s brother Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte.
Sebastian confirmed that their names appear in the document.
Te asked if Sebastian knew that Cruz was appointed by his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, as his special envoy to China, and Sebastian replied, “probably, yes.”
But he said he did not know that Cruz was listed as a stakeholder of Gencorp because he did not look at its corporation papers.
Cruz is an incorporator of the JTC Group of Companies, which was listed as the largest shareholder of Gencorp Industries Inc.
Securities and Exchange Commission records also show that Cruz was an incorporator in other businesses associated with the Vice President, such as City Hall King Chow Foods Corporation, Metro City Chow Foods Corporation, Davao Bounty Times Foods Corporation, Davao Emerging Taipans Corporation, Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corporation, and Great Jolly Times Food Corporation.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Sebastian how he would describe his family’s relationship with Cruz.
“Maybe not entirely the family, but he’s a friend of my father, he’s a known businessman in Davao,” he said.
Hontiveros asked if it could be said that Cruz has a close relationship with the family, and he answered in the affirmative.
The Vice President’s business interests, particularly those involving Gencorp, have been examined in her impeachment trial in relation to unexplained wealth allegations.
Questions of conflict of interest have also been raised over Gencorp’s contracts with Davao City.