HEADLINES

Baste: inday Sara never intervened

‘I have a lot of work as mayor of the particular LGU which is Davao City. It will take too much of my time if I don’t delegate this particular job to the assistant city administrator.’

Lisa Marie Apacible · Sep 30, 2026, 12:25 AM

DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte displays a range of expressions — animated, pensive, frustrated and stern — as he takes the witness stand on the 31st day of the impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, 29 September. His appearance puts a family member at the center of the proceedings as the Senate continues hearing the case against the Vice President. — Photographs by Aram Lascano for DAILY TRIBUNE

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte on Tuesday said his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, never intervened in the city government’s procurements involving GenCorp Industries Inc. nor did she ask for special treatment for the company.

Testifying in the impeachment trial of the Vice President, Baste also said that no Davao City official or member of its bids and awards committee (BAC) had told him that Sara had sought favors or accommodations for GenCorp.

Asked by defense lawyer Justin Gular if Sara had ever intervened in Davao City procurements after becoming Vice President, “No,” Baste replied.

He also denied receiving any call, message, or text from his sister asking for special treatment for GenCorp.

Baste said he was never a member of the city’s BAC and did not participate in its deliberations.

As head of the procuring entity which was Davao City, he said he could not interfere in the BAC’s proceedings. He also said he delegated his signing authority to the assistant city administrator because of his heavy workload as mayor.

“I have a lot of work as mayor of the particular LGU which is Davao City,” Duterte said. “It will take too much of my time if I don’t delegate this particular job to the assistant city administrator.”

The mayor also said he could not explain a discrepancy between the city government’s record of its transactions with GenCorp and those reflected in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).

PhilGEPS division chief Rendell Sopeña earlier testified that its database showed 15 Davao City contracts with GenCorp worth P34.216 million — four awarded through public bidding and 11 through small-value procurement.

Baste testified, however, that the city had 19 GenCorp contracts — four awarded through competitive bidding and 15 through small-value procurement.

“I cannot explain why that reflected on the PhilGEPS data, but that is in our records,” Duterte said. “The subpoena requested the transactions of GenCorp with the city. We provided what we had on record.”

‘It’s privacy’

Asked why he did not know about Sara’s business interests despite being her brother, Baste replied: “It’s privacy.”

He also said he had no personal knowledge of her business interests that were disclosed by earlier witnesses at the Senate impeachment trial.

Baste was declared a hostile witness after prosecutor Theodore Te confronted him with a Facebook statement he had made criticizing the impeachment proceedings, which allowed the prosecution to ask him leading questions.

Sara had declared GenCorp as a business interest in her 2024 and 2025 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth. An official of the Securities and Exchange Commission had earlier testified, however, that her name did not appear as an incorporator, director, or stockholder in GenCorp’s corporate records.

The GenCorp transactions were being examined in connection with the prosecution’s allegations concerning Sara’s declared business interests and financial disclosures.