Senate Impeachment Trial Day 31: Sen. Raffy Tulfo Questions Mayor Baste Duterte on GenCorp Contract Eligibility
Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo continued questioning Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte on Day 31 of the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, this time focusing on whether a company called GenCorp met the city's eligibility requirements for government contracts.
Tulfo first addressed an earlier conflict-of-interest issue, saying it had become clear that while Vice President Duterte's SALN listed her as a part owner of the company, this was not reflected in SEC records. Tulfo noted that Mayor Duterte had earlier affirmed he was not aware Vice President Duterte was a part owner, and said he would not have allowed it if he had known. Because of this, Tulfo said he would no longer pursue that particular question.
Tulfo then turned to the eligibility rule read earlier by an "Attorney Te," which required suppliers to have a certificate showing they had been operational in their line of business for at least five years. According to records cited by Tulfo, GenCorp registered with the SEC in 2020 but had been continuously receiving Davao City contracts since 2022, which Tulfo said conflicted with the five-year requirement.
Mayor Duterte responded that the rule may have been modified for that particular procurement, though he said he did not know when this modification took place and would need to confirm the details with the city's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). Tulfo pointed out that the document read earlier was from 2024, meaning that even if the rule was changed then, GenCorp's contracts dating back to 2022 would still fall short of the five-year requirement. Mayor Duterte maintained he would need to check with the BAC to confirm. Asked if he had spoken with the BAC about this particular matter, Duterte said this specific detail had not been part of his conversations with them.
Source: Senate of the Philippines (courtesy), via Cebuanos News Ph, "'So 'di kayo nag-uusap?!' Tulfo, Diniin si Baste Duterte | VP Sara Trial Day 31," September 29, 2026.