Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and four others have been ordered to appear before the Senate impeachment court as the prosecution shifts to government and corporate records tied to Vice President Sara Duterte, with the Sept. 23 vote on the disputed conviction threshold forcing adjustments in the witness calendar.
Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday granted new subpoenas for Civil Service Commission (CSC) Assistant Commissioner Ariel Ronquillo, Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña, Duterte, lawyer Gary Samonte and Police Major Jerrickson Sangalang.
A subpoena for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official Gerardo del Rosario had already been issued and no longer needed to be renewed, bringing to six the individuals covered by the prosecution’s latest witness request.
Escudero said the appearance dates had to be revised because the court is scheduled to hold oral arguments and vote on Sept. 23 on Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo’s challenge to the interpretation that 16 votes are required for conviction.
Ronquillo will lead the prosecution’s next batch of witnesses, followed by Del Rosario and Sopeña.
“We will be presenting first Attorney Ariel G. Ronquillo of the Civil Service Commission, followed by Attorney Gerardo F. del Rosario of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and finally, Your Honor, Mr. Rendell P. Sopeña of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System Office of the DBM,” House lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said.
Ronquillo is being summoned to testify on the preparation, filing and guidelines governing Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), including his role in drafting relevant guidelines and their interpretation and application.
Sopeña, meanwhile, was asked to testify on government procurement transactions involving entities in which Duterte declared an interest and produce records involving contracts between Gencorp Industries Inc. and government agencies from 2020 to the present.
Escudero ordered the subpoenas for Sebastian Duterte, Samonte and Sangalang for Sept. 23, but said the court may withdraw and reissue them for the following week or later depending on the pace of the first three witnesses.
The adjustment, he said, would avoid unnecessarily taking public officials away from their duties if the court could not yet accommodate their testimony.
Escudero also assured the defense additional time to prepare for cross-examination after the prosecution changed its witness sequence, saying the court could move questioning to the afternoon or proceed first with another witness.
Gencorp Connection
The subpoena for Sebastian Duterte covers transactions entered into by the Davao City government with Gencorp Industries, a company listed among the Vice President’s declared business interests.
He was also directed to produce official records and contracts from 2020 to the present between the city government and with entities that own or operate a Jollibee branch or establishment.
House trial spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur said Baste Duterte’s inclusion as a prospective witness should not be viewed simply in terms of his family relationship with the Vice President.
“He is being called because he may have relevant personal and official knowledge concerning matters that form part of the prosecution’s Article II presentation,” Alonto Adiong said in a press briefing.
Gencorp is relevant to the prosecution’s unexplained wealth case because Duterte herself identified an interest in the company in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
Mayor Duterte’s inclusion in the prosecution witness list comes after reports claimed that Gencorp allegedly obtained millions of pesos worth of food and catering contracts from the Davao City government while he was mayor.
According to the report, Gencorp received about PHP14.32 million in transactions allegedly from the Davao City government from 2022 to 2025, part of approximately PHP15.02 million in reported government transactions that also included PHP696,829 from the PhilHealth regional office in Davao.
The reported transactions occurred during the period when Sara Duterte was Vice President and Sebastian Duterte was mayor of Davao City.
Alonto Adiong stressed that Mayor Duterte’s inclusion in the prosecution witness list does not mean he is being accused of wrongdoing.
“Witness si Mayor Baste, hindi respondent. Hindi namin hinihinging idiin niya ang kanyang kapatid. Ang hinihingi namin ay magsabi siya ng totoo tungkol sa mga bagay na personal niyang nalalaman (Mayor Baste is a witness, not a respondent. We are not asking him to incriminate his sibling. What we are asking is for him to tell the truth about the things he personally knows),” he said.
The prosecution intends to seek the appropriate hostile-witness treatment when Duterte takes the stand, subject to the ruling of the impeachment Ccourt. (PNA)