By Francessca S. Abalos, BusinessWorld

A company disclosed by Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio among her business interests received 49 government contracts worth P35.9 million after she took office in 2022, a state procurement official told the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday.

Rendell P. Sopeña, division chief of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), testified that GenCorp Industries, Inc. was awarded contracts by the Davao City government, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) Region XI and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Region XI, the latter two covering the Davao region where Davao City sits. PhilGEPS, the government's central electronic procurement portal, is where state agencies record bid notices and contract awards, making its database a standard reference for tracing which private firms win government work.

Contract breakdown

The Davao City government accounted for 15 contracts worth P34.22 million, or about 95% of the P35.88-million total. PhilHealth Region XI awarded 33 contracts worth P1.33 million, while OWWA Region XI granted a single contract worth P330,000.

According to the PhilGEPS records, all 49 contracts were awarded between July 21, 2022 and June 2026. Ms. Duterte assumed the vice presidency on June 30, 2022, placing the earliest recorded award roughly three weeks into her term.

GenCorp appeared among the Vice-President's declared business interests in her 2024 and 2025 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), the annual disclosure filings required of public officials under the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Her name, however, does not appear in the company's corporate records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo F. del Rosario told the court earlier.

During his testimony, Mr Sopeña presented five USB drives containing contract data and summaries, along with printed procurement records. The material consisted of 231 documents totaling 481 pages.

House of Representatives lead prosecutor Gerville R. Luistro requested a 10-minute recess so that the prosecution and defense could examine the records, which she said both sides were seeing for the first time.

Mr. Sopeña's testimony followed the presentation of SEC records on companies associated with Ms. Duterte and her husband, Manases "Mans" R. Carpio.

Former envoy identified

Earlier on Tuesday, the prosecution identified an incorporator, shareholder and chairman of companies linked to the Vice-President as a former special envoy to China appointed by her father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

Responding to a question from Senator-Judge Erwin T. Tulfo, prosecution lawyer Erwin G. Matib said the initials "JTC" in JTC Group of Companies Philippines, Inc. stand for Jaime Cruz, a businessman who served as special envoy to China for trade and investments during the Duterte administration. Mr. Cruz's name first surfaced during Mr. del Rosario's testimony a day earlier.

"The name of Jaime T. Cruz comes out in [documents related] to Metro City Chow Foods Corp. based on the articles of incorporation," Mr. del Rosario said.

SEC records identified Mr. Cruz as an incorporator of Metro City Chow Foods Corp. and six other companies: City Hall King Chow Foods Corp., Davao Bounty Times Foods Corp., Davao Emerging Taipans Corp., Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corp., Great Jolly Times Foods Corp. and JTC Group of Companies Philippines, Inc.

Mr. Cruz was also listed as the biggest subscriber of Metro City Chow Foods and GenCorp, with subscriptions of 1,997 and 6,250 shares, respectively. Ms. Duterte declared interests in both companies in her SALNs.

BusinessWorld sought comment from JTC Group by telephone and mobile phone, but company employees declined to comment.

SEC oversight questions

Separately, Mr. del Rosario testified that the SEC has no guidelines requiring it to report government officials who hold interests in private companies.

"If an official establishes a company or becomes part of a company, we do not have guidelines [specifying] that we need to report them to the OP (Office of the President), the Senate, the House or the Judiciary or the Ombudsman to flag these people," he said.

Defense lawyer Justin Nicol B. Gular questioned Mr. del Rosario's competence to determine whether Ms. Duterte's business interests and income constituted a conflict of interest under the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713).

Mr. del Rosario said SEC records do not provide information about the day-to-day management of the companies by Ms. Duterte or her husband. Available corporate records, including stock and transfer books and general information sheets, likewise did not show Ms. Duterte transferring or divesting shares, although he stressed that the SEC records alone could not establish what had actually occurred within the companies.

He maintained, however, that government officials should know the legal restrictions that apply to them.

"It is clear in the law that there is a prohibition [against doing business], and [Ms. Duterte] should have known, as a government official, that she swore an oath to act as Vice-President, that those are her limitations," he said. "So, before she took the oath, she should have already removed herself or divested."

With 481 pages of procurement and corporate records now before the tribunal, and the defense already contesting the SEC witness's competence on the conflict-of-interest question, how the court weighs the documentary evidence is likely to shape the next stages of the impeachment trial.