Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte said he was not aware of his sister Vice President Sara Duterte’s connection to Gencorp Industries Inc. because they do not discuss business interests, but he said he would not have allowed the company to secure contracts with the city had he known.
Sebastian testified as a hostile witness in the Vice President’s impeachment trial in relation to Gencorp, where Duterte listed herself as a stockholder in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).
Questions of conflict of interest have arisen after it was found that Gencorp won 15 contracts from Davao City worth P34.2 million from 2022 to 2026, as per a witness from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS). Sebastian said it was actually 19 contracts.
Sebastian said he would have blocked the contracts had he known that his sister was a Gencorp stockholder.
“I would not allow it,” he said, in response to a question from Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero.
According to him, he did not have personal knowledge of his sister’s business interests, including any corporation where she is a stockholder or investor.
“We simply do not discuss this. I did not ask. It’s her privacy,” he said.
He also does not know about whatever business interests she disclosed in her SALNs.
“It’s not my responsibility to know this,” he added.
He also said his sister did not intervene in any contracts of the city government and did not ask for any favors.
Sebastian, who is also the head of the procuring entity, said he only heard about Gencorp when it was mentioned in the impeachment trial.
He said his subsequent statement defending the Gencorp contracts as aboveboard was based on the work of the Bids and Awards Committee.
Asked if he personally checked Gencorp’s corporate documents, he said he did not “because there was no irregularity.”
He also said he could not look at all the submissions for procurement because voluminous documents are involved.
He claimed that he does not know what kind of business Gencorp is involved in.
As to whether he knew if Gencorp was compliant with the city’s requirements that contractors must be operational for at least five years, Sebastian said the BAC may have modified the requirements, but he does not know this personally.