Vice President Sara Duterte maintained her roles at a food corporation as a board director and member of the compensation committee when she assumed the second-highest post in the land in 2022, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official.
Gerardo del Rosario, director of the SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department, also said that while Duterte declared to another food corporation that she was a stockholder in her statement on assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), her name was not even listed in its corporate and financial records.
There are also no records at the SEC showing that she divested her business interests to other people, he said.
Del Rosario testified for the prosecution on Monday, Sept. 21, at the resumption of Duterte’s impeachment trial, on Article II of four impeachment articles. House prosecutors alleged that she amassed illegal wealth, undeclared her and her husband’s assets in her SALN, and failed to divest her business interests during her tenure as vice president.
‘Catch-22’
Duterte’s retention of her business interests while in office prompted Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo to tell the court that the Vice President was in a “Catch-22 scenario.”
“Will she admit she owns these corporations, will she declare it or not? Because if she does not declare it, that’s a culpable violation of the Constitution. If she declares, that’s a violation of Article VII, Section 3, of the Constitution,” Tulfo said.
But he said he was wondering why Duterte, who, like her husband, is a lawyer and presumably has good lawyers, none of them advised her that she needed to divest her business interests because that is prohibited under the law.
“It’s mind-boggling for me. It doesn’t make sense at all,” Tulfo said during the interjection of senator-judges.
Del Rosario’s testimony came early after prosecutors dropped Ariel Ronquillo, assistant commissioner of the Civil Service Commission, as a witness.
House prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon told the Senate impeachment court that an earlier witness, retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, had adequately explained the preparation of SALNs, and they would no longer present Ronquillo.
‘Offering’ the testimony
In “offering” the testimony of Del Rosario, private prosecutor Erwin Matib said they would prove that:
• Duterte and her husband-lawyer Manases Carpio are linked to 18 companies and have shares of stock and interests that should have been declared in her SALN
• These corporations showed no or zero dividends despite earnings
• Duterte’s name and business interests are still listed in some of the corporations, which is a clear violation of the Constitution
• Some of her companies reported big gross sales during her time as vice president
On Day 27 of the impeachment trial, Del Rosario prepared a summary of the certified copies of documents on Duterte’s business interests based on articles of incorporation, general information sheet (GIS), and audited financial statements that the Vice President submitted to the SEC.
Matib first focused on Metro City Chow Foods Corp., which was registered with the SEC on Aug. 4, 2016, and listed its primary purpose as the establishment, operation, and maintenance of “restaurants, coffee shops, refreshment parlors, cocktail lounges, and cater foods.”
Duterte as incorporator
Asked by Matib about Duterte’s participation in the firm, Del Rosario said the Vice President was an incorporator and board director when the company was first established with an authorized capital stock of ₱1 million.
In 2016, Duterte owned 20% of the company, which she held even after 2018–2021, when she continued to be a board member. She also served on the company’s compensation committee.
From 2022 to 2024, she remained a board member, and in 2025, she served as board director and member of the compensation committee.
Senate impeachment presiding officer Francis Escudero asked Del Rosario if a vice president is barred from participating in a business. Del Rosario and later, Matib, cited Article VII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, which reads:
“The President, Vice President, the members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or assistants, shall not, unless provided in this Constitution, hold any other office or employment during their tenure. They shall not during said tenure, directly or indirectly, practice any other profession, participate in any other business…”
‘Direct participation’
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian asked Del Rosario if Duterte’s retention as board director and member of the compensation committee counts as “direct participation” in the company. The witness replied in the affirmative and agreed this violated the same Constitutional provision.
On Gatchalian’s statement that the SEC can issue show-cause orders on this kind of violation, Del Rosario said he has not made such an investigation. He added that “probably it’s up to the Senate if there is such a violation.”
Later, Del Rosario, replying to Escudero’s interjections, said the SEC had no internal policy prohibiting the president or vice president from owning a business or corporation. He said the SEC does not flag, monitor, or report to officials regarding constitutional restrictions.
The SEC official told Matib that Metro City Chow Foods Corp. had total gross sales of ₱309.08 million from 2017 to 2025, but it had a net loss of ₱3.154 million. For the same period, it did not declare dividends.
Del Rosario said the board of directors can “declare dividends in the form of cash, property, or shares from unrestricted retained earnings based on the equity of shareholders.”
Discussing Gencorp Industries Inc., which was established on Sept. 23, 2020, Del Rosario said documents showed that Duterte did not appear in the GIS as an incorporator/director from 2021 to 2025. This was despite Duterte declaring Gencorp as an asset in her SALN, Matib said.
When the prosecutor asked the SEC official about the company’s gross sales in 2021 and 2022, Del Rosario said it rose from ₱28 million to ₱300 million. Matib remarked that the increase was “times 10.”
18 corporations
Of the 18 corporations linked to the Duterte couple, 10 have no declared dividends, while the rest have no information. Del Rosario said the biggest shareholder of Gencorp and six other companies was Jaime T. Cruz, with 1997 shares, followed by Duterte.
Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros asked Del Rosario whether a corporation’s zero income and no declared dividends meant it was going downhill. He said there was a possibility.
“Do you agree that should a shareholder suffer losses in his corporation and have no declared dividends, these cannot be used to justify a surge in net worth?” Hontiveros asked.
Del Rosario agreed that if a shareholder did not receive dividends, he couldn’t see why there could be an addition to one’s assets. Duterte had declared a net worth of ₱98 million in her 2025 SALN.
Hontiveros also asked whether they had documents showing the Vice President had divested her shares or transferred ownership to other persons. “We do not have such documents,” Del Rosario said. CS
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