Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte. Simeon Celi, Presidential Photo/ ABS-CBN News file
MANILA — Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte is expected to appear before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday and Wednesday to testify in the impeachment case against his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, Sen. Francis Escudero said Monday.
Escudero, the presiding officer in the impeachment trial, disclosed the schedule as he placed on the court record Mayor Duterte’s request to appear before the court on September 29 and 30, which he granted.
In the letter to the court, Mayor Duterte asked for "substantial time to gather, organize, authenticate and reproduce the subpoenaed documents" related to his testimony, Escudero said.
Duterte is set to testify in relation to Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which accuses his sister of amassing unexplained wealth, failure to fully disclose her assets, and failure to divest her business interests while serving as vice president.
A witness in the trial disclosed that Davao City, which Mayor Duterte heads and is also considered a political bailiwick of his family, had awarded P34.2 million worth of contracts to GenCorp Industries Inc.
GenCorp has come under scrutiny in the trial after Vice President Duterte declared an interest in the company in her 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), listing herself as a stockholder even after assuming the vice presidency in 2022.
However, a Securities and Exchange Commission official said Duterte was not listed as an incorporator, director or stockholder of GenCorp in the company's corporate records filed with the agency.
Mayor Duterte has said he was unaware of his sister's involvement in the company, noting that her name did not appear in GenCorp's corporate documents.