Mayor Baste Duterte Testifies in VP Sara Duterte’s Impeachment Trial, Denies Knowledge of Gencorp Contracts

On Tuesday, September 29, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte appeared as a witness in the impeachment trial of his older sister, Vice President Sara Duterte. He said he had no direct hand in the city’s contracts with Gencorp Industries Inc. , a company linked to the Vice President, and that he had delegated procurement duties to Assistant City Administrator Tristan Domingo because of the volume of documents the mayor must sign. Several senator‑judges defended the mayor’s delegation, citing the sheer number of papers a mayor must review. Senator‑judge Erwin Tulfo urged an investigation of the staff who approved the Gencorp deals, while Tulfo’s remarks were dismissed by the mayor as irrelevant if the Vice President’s name was not on the contract. The prosecution’s spokespersons, however, expressed doubt over the mayor’s claim of ignorance.