Inquirer·Philippines·

SEC exec: VP part of food firm’s board while in office

Translate

Isabelle Pechay, Tina G. Santos

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte stayed on the board and retained her stake in a food company for three years after becoming Vice President, with a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official saying on Monday that her continued corporate roles could violate the constitutional ban on government officials participating in business.

Lawyer Gerardo del Rosario, director of the SEC’s Company Registration and Monitoring Department, testified that Duterte retained a 20-percent stake in Metro City Chow Foods Corp. from 2016 to 2025 and remained on its board from 2018 to 2025.He also confirmed that Duterte was listed as a member of the company’s compensation committee from 2024 to 2025, when she was already Vice President.

The testimony came on Day 27 of her impeachment trial as House prosecutors presented SEC records under Article 2, which alleges that Duterte amassed unexplained wealth, failed to fully and truthfully disclose assets, and failed to divest business interests while serving as Vice President.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Sara Duterte trial: Prosecution may call Jaime Cruz as witness

Conflict of interest

The Constitution also says these officials must “strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office.”

Del Rosario clarified, however, that the SEC had not investigated Duterte’s corporate positions as possible constitutional violations because the commission’s mandate covers securities-related violations.

Article continues after this advertisement

He said the Senate would have to determine whether Duterte’s participation constituted a violation.

Presiding officer Francis Escudero pressed Del Rosario on whether the Constitution expressly referred to “business interests” or merely prohibited participation in business.

Del Rosario said it was his understanding that the provision barred such participation.

Escudero also questioned why the SEC had not flagged Duterte’s continued corporate positions if they were potentially unlawful.

“If it’s indeed illegal, they should have flagged it, if that is the opinion of the SEC,” Escudero said.

Senator-judge Joel Villanueva asked whether SEC records showed Duterte personally participating in corporate management or transactions after she became Vice President.

Del Rosario said there were no SEC documents showing her personal attendance at corporate meetings or participation in specific transactions from 2022 onward. SEC filings, he said, mainly reflect formal entries such as stock ownership and directorships.But the records showed that Duterte remained a director through 2025.

Nondisclosure, divestment

Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo asked whether Duterte could comply with the law simply by declaring her business interests in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Tulfo said failure to declare an ownership interest could constitute nondisclosure, while declaring it could raise a separate constitutional question because the Constitution prohibits a Vice President from participating in business.

He also noted that Duterte did not divest her interests from 2022 to 2025 and that the constitutional restriction does not depend on whether the business earned profits.

Del Rosario said a person may hold an interest in a company through a nominee or trust agreement without appearing in SEC records. Such arrangements are not inherently illegal, he said, but could become unlawful if used to circumvent legal restrictions, including the antidummy law.

Escudero asked whether the SEC could determine from its filings whether such an arrangement was intended to conceal an interest.

Del Rosario said it could not determine the intent behind such arrangements.

The witness also confirmed that Duterte was an incorporator of Metro City Chow Foods when it was established in 2016 and held 500 shares worth P50,000 in 2025. Jaime T. Cruz, another director, was listed as the company’s biggest shareholder with 1,997 shares.

Duterte’s SALNs also identified her as an incorporator or stockholder of Gencorp Industries Inc., but Del Rosario said her name did not appear as an incorporator, stockholder or director in the company’s SEC records from 2020 to 2025.

‘Conditioning’ the public

Defense counsel Justin Nicol Gular challenged a prosecution document, labeled “Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Shareholdings,” saying it included corporate figures such as authorized capital stock, subscribed capital and paid-up capital that were not Duterte’s personal holdings.

He called it a “misrepresentation” and accused prosecutors of attempting to “condition the mind of the public” with figures that would be shown during the proceedings.

The prosecution rejected the accusation.

Private prosecutor Erwin Matib said the document contained separate columns identifying Duterte’s holdings and distinguished them from the companies’ total capital. He said it also identified companies in which Duterte did not appear as an incorporator or director.

Escudero allowed its presentation but ordered the prosecution to remove the main label because some figures referred to the corporations rather than solely to Duterte.

CSC witness out; Baste reset

Prosecutor Terry Ridon told the court it was withdrawing Civil Service Commission (CSC) Assistant Commissioner Ariel Ronquillo as a witness to testify on SALN preparation and filing rules because it was already satisfied with the testimony of retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Ombudsman Records Division OIC Karen Batu.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

The court, meanwhile, reset the subpoena for Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte from Sept. 23 to Sept. 28-30. —With reports from Zacarian Sarao and Keith Clores

View the original on Inquirer →

KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.