GenCorp Industries Inc., a company Vice President Sara Duterte has declared as a business interest, secured P34.2169 million worth of contracts from the Davao City government during her term as vice president, according to procurement records presented at her impeachment trial.
The figure emerged during Day 28 of the Senate impeachment proceedings on September 22, when Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña testified about government contracts awarded to GenCorp.
Sopeña said Davao City awarded GenCorp 15 contracts worth P34.2169 million between July 2022 and June 2026. PhilHealth Region XI awarded the company another 33 contracts worth P1.331 million, while the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in the region awarded one contract worth P330,000. Together, the contracts totaled about P35.88 million.
The prosecution highlighted the transactions because Duterte declared in her 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth that she was an incorporator and shareholder of GenCorp, with the interest dating back to 2013. Prosecutors are presenting the records as part of their allegations concerning her business and financial interests while serving as vice president.
The issue has attracted additional attention because Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, Sara Duterte’s brother, was the city’s chief executive during the period covered by the contracts.
Prosecutors have pointed to Article VII, Section 13 of the Philippine Constitution, which restricts the president, vice president and certain other high-ranking executive officials from participating in business or being financially interested in government contracts during their tenure. The prosecution also cited provisions of the New Government Procurement Act concerning the authority of the head of the procuring entity.
However, the presentation of the contracts does not by itself establish that the transactions violated procurement or constitutional rules. The Senate impeachment court is still examining the evidence and the parties’ competing interpretations of the applicable laws.
Mayor Baste Duterte has separately disputed earlier reports that placed Davao City’s transactions with GenCorp at about P14.32 million. He said his latest review showed 19 contracts worth P33.263 million, with 13 already completed and six still ongoing. According to his account, four contracts went through competitive public bidding while 15 were handled through small-value procurement.
Baste Duterte also said he and other Davao City officials were unaware that his sister had declared an interest in GenCorp. He maintained that the company submitted the required documents for each transaction and that the city published the procurement records through PhilGEPS.
The discrepancy between the city’s latest accounting and the P34.2169 million figure presented by the prosecution appears to stem from differences in the records and transactions being counted. The prosecution figure came from PhilGEPS records covering 15 Davao City contracts, while the mayor cited 19 city transactions in his own review.
The Senate impeachment court is expected to examine the transactions further when Mayor Duterte appears as a witness. His testimony was initially scheduled for September 23 but was later reset to September 28 to 30. Prosecutors have indicated that they want to question him about the city’s dealings with GenCorp and related procurement records.
The GenCorp issue is now one of several business-interest questions being raised in the impeachment proceedings involving Vice President Duterte. The evidence presented so far establishes that government agencies awarded contracts to GenCorp and that Duterte disclosed an interest in the company in her SALNs; the central legal questions surrounding those facts remain for the impeachment court to consider.
As the proceedings move forward, attention is likely to focus on the procurement documents, the circumstances surrounding the contracts and whether the declared business interest had any bearing on the transactions involving government agencies.
