Davao City awarded 11 contracts to GenCorp worth P8 million, official says

The Davao City government awarded 11 non-bidded contracts totaling roughly P8 million to GenCorp Industries Inc., a company declared by Vice President Sara Duterte as a business interest in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), an official of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) testified Monday.

Testifying under questioning by Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros, PhilGEPS Electronic Government Procurement Operations Division Chief Rendell Sopeña revealed that the city government entered into 15 total contracts worth P34.216 million with the firm.

Asked by Hontiveros how many of these contracts bypassed public bidding, Sopeña confirmed that only four went through open competition, while the remaining 11 were awarded through negotiated small-value procurement.

“Ang total po ni Davao is P34,216,000. And out of this po, yung apat po is yung public bidding... And yung 11 po is through negotiated small-value procurement po,” Sopeña told the senate tribunal, estimating the non-bidded batch at “roughly P7 million to P8 million.”

Based on PhilGEPS records, individual non-bidded awards ranged from P49,800 to P805,500 for items shareable under similar categories.

Earlier in the proceedings, Sopeña disclosed that GenCorp secured approximately 49 government contracts worth a total of P35.9 million across various entities during Duterte's tenure as vice president. Aside from the Davao City local government, these included PhilHealth Region XI and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Region XI.

Conflict of interest, split contracts raised

The disclosures prompted intense scrutiny from senator-judges regarding potential conflict of interest and contract-splitting to evade public bidding thresholds.

Senator-Judge Joel Villanueva questioned whether the contracts were divided into smaller purchases, pointing out that several involved nearly identical supplies. Sopeña confirmed that the awards frequently covered identical goods—such as "food and catering services"—though they carried different publication and award dates.

Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo pressed whether GenCorp should have been disqualified from participating in Davao City's procurement, given Duterte’s recorded ownership stake and the city leadership under her brother, Mayor Sebastian Duterte.

"Allowed ba ang GenCorp na mag-participate sa public bidding sa Davao, knowing na si VP Sara ay isa sa may-ari ng GenCorp and then ang Davao is baluwarte niya? Wala bang conflict of interest doon?" Tulfo asked. "Hindi ba na-flag down agad na, 'Teka muna, may conflict of interest ata rito?'"

House prosecutor Representative Gerville Luistro argued that GenCorp’s procurement deals with the city violate constitutional standards if Duterte retained her financial interest in the firm.

"GenCorp should not be participating in the bidding of the City of Davao, which is headed by no less than the brother of the respondent Vice President," Luistro stated. "It is my humble submission that this is the conflict of interest contemplated under Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution."

-Paraluman News