Prosecution to call Sebastian Duterte to witness stand in VP Sara’s trial

MANILA, Philippines – The prosecution team in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will call her brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, to the witness stand. The impeachment court on Wednesday, September 16, granted the prosecution’s request to compel the attendance of the younger Duterte on September 23. “In broad strokes, we remember that in the SALNs (Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net worth), it was mentioned that among the companies she has financial interest… is Gencorp,” prosecution spokesman Jay Tolosa said. “We want to know, in his capacity as mayor of Davao, if Gencorp has dealings with the city government of Davao,” he added. The younger Duterte was not initially identified as a witness by the prosecution team in its pre-trial brief, although it is not precluded from asking him to testify as among the unnamed, reserve witnesses. The development comes a day after Rappler published an exclusive report detailing how Gencorp cornered P15 million in food and catering contracts from the PhilHealth Davao Regional Office and Davao City Hall between 2022 and 2025. Sara, who is a stockholder of the company, was already vice president at the time. The Constitution bars a vice president’s participation in any business, and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Official instructs them to divest their shares from any private business enterprise within 60 days from their assumption. – Rappler.com