Sara Duterte Retained Business Stakes Despite Constitutional Ban, SEC Official Testifies

MANILA, Philippines — Despite constitutional prohibition, Vice President Sara Duterte retained her holdings in companies held by her family even after her election in 2022, an official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said at the resumption of her impeachment trial yesterday. “As per their GIS (general information sheet) from 2022 to 2024, VP Duterte was still a member of the board of directors,” Gerardo del Rosario, director of the SEC’s company registration and monitoring department, said, referring to her family’s Metro City Chow Foods Corp. By retaining her business interest after her election as vice president, Duterte violated Article 7, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution, Del Rosario said during direct examination by private prosecutor Erwin Matib. “We have a provision in the Constitution saying that the President, VP, Cabinet members… cannot hold other office, cannot have another job, cannot engage in a different profession, cannot engage in any other profession, cannot have business interests, to avoid conflict of interest,” the prosecution witness explained. He said a GIS updates the SEC on a corporation’s structure, composition and officers. Matib said that based on SEC records, Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio own or have financial interests in 18 firms. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian asked Del Rosario how Duterte could have a business interest in Gencorp Industries Inc. as declared in her 2024 and 2025 statement of assets, liabilities net worth (SALN) if its corporate papers do not show her as an officer. Del Rosario replied she could have a business interest in Gencorp through its corporate subscriber, JTC Group of Companies Philippines Inc., which owns 55 percent of Gencorp. based on the latter’s GIS. If Duterte controls JTC, she could also have indirect control over Gencorp without appearing as shareholder, Del Rosario said. “If it can be shown that you’re a stockholder or controlling stockholder of JTC, there’s no need for trust agreement,” he said in reply to questioning from Sen. Joel Villanueva. Gatchalian cited the prosecution evidence that the Vice President in 2025 was a member of the board of directors and a member of the compensation committee of the Metro City Chow Foods Corp. based on the filing of its corporate secretary. “Is this, based on your experience, a possible violation of Article 7, Section 13 of the Constitution, because it’s written here it’s not allowed to participate in any business?” Del Rosario replied in the affirmative. “It says, having other offices is not allowed. You should not hold office, employment or engage in other profession during the term of office, even to participate,” Del Rosario said. Earlier during the hearing, presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero noted that the provision in the Constitution cited by the prosecution did not specifically prohibit “business interests.” “I didn’t hear anything from what was read ‘business interests’… ‘participate in business,’ yes. It’s there. But to have business interests, do you see?” Escudero said. Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked the SEC why it did not call the attention of the Vice President to her possible legal transgression concerning business interests during her incumbency. “Isn’t it your job? Whose job is it to remind that official, ‘sir, ma’am, you may have committed violation in your filing. You may have to divest.’ You don’t do that? You don’t remind the official?” Del Rosario said it’s not SEC’s task to do so, but it can only act on it. Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he found it “mindboggling” that the Vice President’s lawyers did not even warn her of her violation. “It doesn’t make sense at all.” When Tulfo asked the witness if the Vice President’s continued business interests constitute “ill-gotten wealth,” Escudero reminded him and the witness and the other parties that they cannot make “conclusions of law.” Also yesterday, the prosecution said it is set to summon Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials to determine if Duterte received salaries from private food corporations, following revelations of their unusually low net incomes. After scrutinizing the financial records of Metro City Chow Food Corp. where Duterte holds a 20 percent stake and GenCorp Industries, a company listed in her SALN, Sen. Bam Aquino noted that both companies reported net incomes of less than one percent of their total sales – a significant red flag in the restaurant industry, which “typically sees profit margins of six to eight percent.” When Aquino asked if the owners might be bypassing dividends to take home salaries or emoluments instead, SEC’s Del Rosario confirmed that while there are limits on board per diems, there are no restrictions on owners also serving as salaried employees. Considering that SEC records do not detail employee salaries, Matib said they would rely on tax documents to trace the money. “For this, we will be presenting representatives from the BIR to testify on the annual income tax returns of the VP and for the companies,” Matib said. The private prosecutor said meanwhile that based on SEC records, the other firms where Duterte and her husband have business interests – aside from City Hall King Chow Foods Corp., Metro City Chow Foods Corp. and Gencorp – are Kale 88 Foods Corp., Mati City Ice Plant and Cold Storage, Geometry Security and Investigation Agency Inc., Great Jolly Times Food Corp., Times Square B Foods Corp., Davao New Royal Taipan Foods Corp., Davao Emerging Taipans Corp., Three Kids Trucking Services Inc., CYKNP Davao Corp., SGT Fortune Horse Corp., Davao Bounty Times Food Corp., Madayaw Fisheries Inc., Ameanan Shores Inc., CableTow 88 Shipping and Marine Services Inc. and Carpio Lawyers. — Neil Jayson Servallos, Marc Jayson Cayabyab