Sara Duterte’s bank records, Gencorp deals fuel clash

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution and defense clashed anew on Monday over Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank records as the Senate impeachment court pressed into questions about her business interests, government contracts and undeclared assets on Day 30 of the trial.

House prosecutor Chel Diokno manifested that the prosecution had sought Duterte’s admission of the existence and authenticity of bank records submitted directly by banks in response to subpoenas issued by the impeachment court.

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison objected, arguing that the request did not apply to impeachment proceedings and would violate Duterte’s constitutional right against self-incrimination.

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Diokno said the request was meant to narrow the issues and spare the court from calling witnesses to establish matters that were not genuinely disputed.

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“We filed the request for admission to ensure the trial of this case proceeds more efficiently and expeditiously,” he said in Filipino. “Our sole objective is to identify the actual points of contention, so as not to consume the court’s time with matters that can simply be acknowledged or are not truly controversial.”

READ: QC prosecutors junk VP husband’s complaint over release of bank records

He later offered to stipulate that the bank accounts existed, that the records were produced by the banks pursuant to court subpoenas, and that they were genuine and authentic copies maintained by the banks. “We will withdraw our request for admission if the respondent will agree to this,” Diokno said.

Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero ordered Diokno to submit the proposal in writing, saying the court would still rule on the issue to guide the parties and future impeachment proceedings.

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Conflict of interest

Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña testified that 11 contracts between Davao City and GenCorp Industries Inc., worth roughly P7-8 million, were awarded through negotiated small-value procurement which did not require public bidding. Only four of the 15 contracts with a combined value of about P34.2 million underwent public bidding.

The prosecution focused on a potential conflict of interest because Duterte had declared GenCorp as a business interest in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs). But records from the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier presented in court did not list her as a stockholder, director or incorporator of GenCorp.

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House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro argued that GenCorp should not have participated in Davao City transactions if Duterte’s declared interest in the company was accepted, particularly because her brother, Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, is the city mayor.

Luistro said this was the type of conflict of interest contemplated under Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution.

Senator-judge Joel Villanueva asked: “If PhilGEPS does not verify and has no post-qualification or independent validation of ownership, beneficial ownership, and relationship declarations… how can the government ensure that submitted documents are complete, correct, and truthful?”

Sopeña said PhilGEPS does not independently verify ownership, beneficial ownership or possible relationships between bidders and government officials.

Baste to face questions

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian also questioned the limits of PhilGEPS records, asking whether the system showed the number of bidders, their submitted prices and whether winning bids were reasonable.

Sopeña said PhilGEPS generally records the procurement modality but does not necessarily contain the number of bidders or their bid prices unless these are uploaded by the procuring entity.

The court will hear Baste Duterte on Tuesday after Escudero granted his request to move his appearance from Monday.

The mayor said he needed more time to gather, authenticate and reproduce documents covered by his subpoena, including records of Davao City’s transactions with GenCorp.

The prosecution also presented Police Maj. Joericson Sangalang of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office.

Sangalang testified that 51 firearms were registered to Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio—22 to Duterte and 29 to Carpio—with a combined estimated market value of P7.22 million, which were not declared in the Vice President’s SALNs.

Several senator-judges questioned the relevance of the testimony. Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo asked why the court needed to hear about the firearms when the issue was unexplained wealth.

Senator-judges Vicente Sotto III and Alan Peter Cayetano also raised reservations, while Escudero said he had been inclined to exclude the witness because the testimony was less convincing on alleged ill-gotten wealth than other evidence.

Escudero nevertheless allowed the testimony but directed the prosecution to keep its questioning brief.

Sangalang clarified that the P7.22-million figure represented current market estimates, not the couple’s actual acquisition costs.

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The prosecution presented the testimony under Article II, which covers alleged unexplained wealth and SALN discrepancies. /cb