Gencorp secured 49 government contracts

Gencorp secured 49 government contracts | Daily Tribune

Based on the PhilGEPS database, most of Gencorp’s government contracts were awarded by PhilHealth-Davao City at 33, followed by the Davao City government at 15, and OWWA–Davao City, one.

Duterte identified herself as an incorporator and stockholder of Gencorp, based on her 2016 to 2025 SALNs, though Gencorp’s records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not list her. The corporation was previously named Timesquare Bee Foods Corp. and Great Jolly Times Foods Corp.

Of the nearly P36 million worth of contracts bagged by Gencorp, the largest came from the Davao LGU at P34.2 million. These contracts were awarded to the company from 21 July 2022 to 23 June this year, a period that overlapped with Duterte’s term as Vice President.

Meanwhile, the 33 contracts from PhilHealth-Davao amounted to P1.33 million, while that from OWWA-Davao totaled P330,000.

“Upon receiving [the subpoena from the impeachment court], we processed, searched the repository of [the] procurement database based on the requested merchant name, which was Gencorp Industries Inc. And upon research, it resulted [in] 49 awarded contracts to Gencorp,” Sopeña told the impeachment court.

Of the 49 contracts, Sopeña said they extracted 231 procurement-related documents totaling over 480 pages.

Sopeña said he signed and certified all the documents, both the digital and hard copies, presented to the impeachment court.

This was contested, however, by defense counsel Roberto Batungbacal, who noted that the summary was undated, unsigned, and not certified by the witness.

Sopeña was one of the prosecution’s witnesses for Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which accused Duterte of acquiring unexplained wealth.

The prosecution has accused the VP of deliberately misrepresenting entries in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth to conceal unexplained wealth and non-compliance with the mandatory divestment of business interests.

The Constitution bars the President, Vice President, Cabinet members, among others, from directly or indirectly participating in any business or holding a financial interest in any government contract during their term.

Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro noted that Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, the Vice President’s younger brother, was the official responsible for approving the LGU’s dealings with Gencorp.

“Under Section V of RA 12009 (the New Government Procurement Act), the HOPE (head of procuring entity) of the LGU is the local chief executive and ultimately, we invoke mandatory judicial notice [of] the fact that the local chief executive of Davao City, the head of the procuring entity, the one who approves the resolution of the bids and awards committee is no less than Mayor Sebastian Duterte,” Luistro noted.

The impeachment court has subpoenaed Mayor Duterte to testify in his sister’s trial next week.

Shortly after the impeachment court announced this on Monday, the mayor issued a statement insisting that he and other Davao City officials had no knowledge of the Vice President having an interest in Gencorp, noting that neither her name nor the surname Duterte appeared in the firm’s official documents submitted to the LGU.

Aside from Gencorp, SEC records showed the Vice President was listed as an incorporator and director of the Davao City-based private firm Metro City Chow Foods Corp. in 2016 and she owned a 20-percent stake in the company until 2025.

From 2018 to 2025, Duterte was listed as a board member and served on the corporation’s executive and compensation committees, despite her election as Vice President in 2022.