MANILA — Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday questioned Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s assertion that he has no knowledge of Vice President Sarad Duterte’s business interests in a company that has won millions-worth of contracts from the local government of Davao.
The mayor — who is the final signatory on all city contracts and projects — told the Senate impeachment court that it is virtually impossible for him to peruse the fine print of all documents that land on his desk.
This as the prosecution questioned why the city government of Davao inked multi-million deals with Gencorp Industries Inc., a company that appears on the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of Vice President Duterte, the Mayor’s elder sister.
“Kung pwede yung sinasabi niya, lahat ng mayor sa Pilipinas pwedeng makipag kontrata sa kapatid nila,” Trillanes told reporters in a chance interview.
“They will just feign ignorance… ‘yun ang implication nun,” he said.
While the mayor maintained that he is unaware of Gencorp’s transactions with the city government prior to the impeachment proceedings, he admitted to having separate business ventures with Jaime T. Chua, one of the company’s stockholders.
Trillanes declined to give further details as he is set to appear as a witness in the impeachment trial on September 30.