Sara Duterte trial recap, Sept. 29: Baste Duterte on the stand
MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte testified at the impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, on Tuesday, September 29, saying he had no direct knowledge of the city's 19 contracts with a firm declared as a business interest in her SALN.
The direct and cross-examination of the vice president's brother came down to one main question on GenCorp Industries Inc.: Was there a conflict of interest when the Davao City government awarded it contracts, all while his sister was vice president?
On that question, the mayor repeatedly told the court he could only answer based on the record, as he had not personally reviewed contracts with the firm. Baste said it was the city's bids and awards committee that evaluated GenCorp and that an aide signed the contracts under delegated authority.
He said he was not aware of his sister's business interests because, in his words, "we simply do not discuss this."
A hypothetical, however, surfaced during the proceedings, when Presiding Officer Sen. Chiz Escudero asked whether the mayor would have allowed any award to GenCorp had he known his sister was a stockholder.
"I would not allow it," Baste said.
From 2022 to 2026, Davao City awarded GenCorp 19 food and catering contracts, 15 of them through small value procurement, which does not require public bidding. None were entered into while the vice president herself was the city's mayor.
GenCorp's ties to the vice president exist only on her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), which lists her as a stockholder. The corporate records of the company, however, as the Securities and Exchange Commission has shared with the court, do not list Duterte as such.
Escudero said on Monday that this discrepancy has yet to be reconciled.
Here are the three highlights from today's proceedings.
1. No knowledge of GenCorp, but a business partner of a GenCorp stockholder
Under direct questioning by prosecution counsel Theodore Te, the Davao mayor testified he had no personal knowledge of GenCorp before the company was brought up in the impeachment trial.
The mayor however also confirmed that Jaime T. Cruz, GenCorp's major stockholder, is his business partner in another company whose 2026 corporate filing also lists his brother Paolo Duterte.
Duterte said he never discussed GenCorp with Cruz and did not know of Cruz's stake in it.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Baste to describe Cruz's relationship with the Dutertes.
"Maybe not entirely the family, but he's a friend of my father. He's a known businessman in Davao," the mayor said.
Hontiveros said that made the relationship a "close" one.
2. "The witness is not the one on trial"
Escudero repeatedly pressed prosecutors to connect their questions to the article at hand, as "the witness is not the one on trial here."
Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Bong Go and Joel Villanueva used their turns to argue that a mayor cannot check every single document he signs.
Sen. Ping Lacson noted that the mayor "never denied anything" and asked whether his lawyers had told him of the Arias doctrine, which lets office heads rely on subordinates in good faith.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked whether the mayor would look into the contracts himself.
That produced a non-committal answer from the vice president's brother.
"Well, as long as my sister's name, the vice president's name was not on the contract then there's nothing," Baste replied.
3. No answer required
Escudero announced today the court's ruling on the prosecution's request for admission on some 104 items pertaining to her and her husband's bank and tax records.
The court sided with the defense and ruled Duterte does not have to answer the prosecution's 104-item request for admission, citing her right against self-incrimination.
"The prosecution cannot shift its burden of proof to respondent through the simple expedience of a request for admission," Escudero said.
Escudero also declined to subpoena former Sen. Antonio Trillanes, whom prosecutors wanted to advance as their first witness tomorrow.
Escudero expressed his reluctance and said the prosecution's own motion tied Trillanes's testimony to bank records that have not yet been presented: "The cart cannot be put ahead of the horse," he said.
However, the presiding officer also told the prosecution nothing stopped it from voluntarily calling Trillanes as a witness this week without a subppoena.
The former senator was in the gallery today during Baste's presentation.
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