By Wilnard Bacelonia
The number of Davao City contracts with GenCorp Industries Inc. reflected in records presented by a Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) official differed from figures released by the city government, the Senate impeachment court said Monday.
During the 30th day of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial, PhilGEPS Division Chief Rendell Sopeña said the records before him covered 15 Davao City contracts with GenCorp worth PHP34.216 million.
Four went through public bidding while 11 were awarded through negotiated small-value procurement.
“Eleven po ang hindi dumaan sa (Eleven did not go through) public bidding,” Sopeña told Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros.
The figures differ from those released earlier by Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who said the local government had 19 transactions with GenCorp worth more than PHP33.2 million.
Duterte said four underwent competitive public bidding while 15 used small-value procurement.
He maintained that all 19 transactions were processed, reported and published through PhilGEPS.
Thus, while both accounts identify four publicly bid contracts, they differ by four small-value procurement transactions.
The figures cited by Sopeña also put the 15 contracts in the PhilGEPS records at about PHP34.22 million, compared with Davao City’s figure of roughly PHP33.26 million for 19 transactions.
Hontiveros questioned Sopeña on whether PhilGEPS could determine if procurement rules were violated when the local government signs contracts with a company in which a mayor’s sibling has an interest.
Sopeña said PhilGEPS manages the electronic procurement system and depends on information entered by procuring entities.
“We are heavily dependent kung ano ang data na ini-input ng mga procuring entity (on the data being entered by procuring entities),” he said.
Asked directly whether PhilGEPS saw a violation in such a situation, Sopeña declined to make a legal determination.
“For the PhilGEPS system side, we have no personal knowledge pagdating sa ganyan (when it comes to that),” he said.
Sopeña testified on Sept. 22 that PhilGEPS records showed GenCorp received 49 government contracts worth about PHP35.88 million, including 15 from Davao City, 33 from Philippine Health Insurance Corp.-Davao Region (11) and one from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-Region 11.
The records covered awards from July 21, 2022 to June 23, 2026.
The Vice President declared GenCorp among her business interests in her 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, although earlier testimony from a Securities and Exchange Commission official showed her name did not appear as an incorporator or director in the company’s corporate records.
The procurement records are being examined as part of the prosecution’s evidence under the impeachment article involving Duterte’s declared business and financial interests.
House of Representatives lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas, meanwhile, told the Senate impeachment court that Gencorp Industries Inc. should not have joined Davao City procurement because of Vice President Duterte’s declared interests in the company.
Luistro said the Vice President should have also considered the fact that her younger brother is the mayor of Davao City.
The Batangas solon made the statement after Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo asked whether Gencorp could participate in Davao City bidding while Duterte was identified as one of its owners and her brother headed the local government.
“That particular scenario, if it is true, 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 Vice President,” Luistro told Tulfo.
Luistro acknowledged that the procurement law did not expressly spell out the precise situation described by Tulfo.
She, however, identified the constitutional provision on which the prosecution anchored its stand.
“While the procurement law, Your Honor, is not very much explicit on this, it is my humble submission that this is the conflict of interest contemplated under Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution,” Luistro said.
Presiding Officer Senator Francis Escudero said the fact that the Vice President’s name is not listed in the records is “one difference that still has to be reconciled at some point.”
