Davao City awarded P7M-P8M in GenCorp contracts without public bidding -- witness

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The local government of Davao City awarded around P7 million to P8 million worth of contracts to GenCorp Industries allegedly without public bidding, a House prosecution witness said on Monday.

During the 30th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña said that of the 15 contracts awarded by the Davao City government to GenCorp, only four underwent public bidding.

Sopeña was responding to questions from Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros about the number of contracts awarded by the Davao City government to GenCorp that had not undergone public bidding.

"If I remember correctly, 11 did not undergo public bidding," the PhilGEPS official said in a mix of Filipino and English.

"So this comes out to roughly P7 million or P8 million," Sopeña added.

The Senate impeachment court is tackling Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment, which alleges that Duterte, through a company she declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), entered into contracts with the government during her incumbency as vice president.

Sopeña earlier said government agencies awarded around P35 million worth of contracts to GenCorp Industries during Duterte's term as vice president, with 49 contracts awarded to the company.

Aside from the Davao City government, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation Region 11 and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Region 11 also awarded contracts to GenCorp.

GenCorp has been linked to Duterte because it was listed among her business interests in her SALN, although another prosecution witness from the Securities and Exchange Commission testified that her name does not appear as an owner in GenCorp's corporate records.

Meanwhile, Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo questioned the potential conflict of interest between the Davao City government and GenCorp.

"Si VP Sara ay isa sa may-ari ng GenCorp and then yung Davao ay balwarte niya. Wala bang conflict of interest dito?" he asked.

(VP Sara is one of the owners of GenCorp, and Davao is her bailiwick. Isn't there a conflict of interest here?)

For her part, House lead prosecutor and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said there was indeed a conflict of interest.

"That particular scenario, if there are SALNs already which the respondent, the vice president herself, acknowledged, admitted that she is part of this corporation, then GenCorp should not be participating in the bidding of the City of Davao, which is headed by no less than the brother of the respondent, the vice president," Luistro said.

According to Luistro, Duterte is deemed to have committed three violations in connection with GenCorp's contracts with the Davao City government: owning a business, operating a business and having a conflict of interest.

"Kumbaga sa larong tong-its, three hits po ito (It's like a game of tong-its, this is three hits)," Luistro said, referring to the popular rummy-style card game.

Luistro's remark prompted Senate President and impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero to order that it be stricken from the record, drawing an objection from the defense panel, as it supposedly constituted a conclusion of law.

Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, the younger brother of the vice president, was subpoenaed to appear before the impeachment court this week in relation to GenCorp.— MCG, GMA News