MANILA— Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte on Tuesday confirmed that he knows businessman Jaime T. Cruz, whose name surfaced repeatedly in documents presented during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.

House private prosecutor Ted Te directly asked the mayor whether he knew Cruz.

“Mayor, diretsohin ko na ‘yung tanong sabi ni PO [presiding officer] diretsohin ko na. Kilala niyo po ba si Jaime T. Cruz?” Te asked.

“Yes, sir,” Duterte replied.

Te then asked whether Duterte knew Cruz because they were business partners.

“Yes, sir,” the mayor said.

Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros subsequently asked Duterte to describe Cruz’s relationship with his family, noting that the businessman had served under the administration of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, had common business interests with the Duterte siblings and had also been a contractor for the Davao City government.

“Ito pong si Jaime T. Cruz, siya po ay nagsilbi sa administrasyon ng inyong ama, may common business interests sa inyong magkakapatid, at lumalabas na contractor din po ng local government unit na pinamumunuan niyo. Given these things, paano niyo po ilalarawan ‘yung relasyon ni Jaime T. Cruz sa pamilya ninyo?” Hontiveros asked.

“Maybe not entirely in the family but he’s a friend of my father, he’s a known businessman in Davao,” Duterte replied.

Gencorp records

Duterte also testified that he did not personally examine Gencorp Industries Inc.’s corporate records, saying he saw no irregularity that prompted him to do so.

“In relation to this statement, hindi mo rin inusisa personally ‘yung corporate documents ng Gencorp?” Te asked.

“Because there was no irregularity,” Duterte replied.

Te followed up by asking whether the mayor therefore did not personally examine the company’s corporate records.

“Yes, so you did not personally examine the corporate records?” Te inquired.

“Most of the submissions for procurement, I cannot look at all of these,” Duterte added.

Testifying as a hostile witness, Duterte also said the Davao City government awarded Gencorp 19 contracts, rather than 15, while maintaining that he had no personal knowledge of the company.

During questioning, Te also asked Duterte about Gencorp’s bid for the city government’s food and catering services contract.

“Ang ibig po bang sabihin ng single calculated responsive bidder is wala pong kalaban ang nanalong bidder?” Te asked.

“I think that was what it suggested,” Duterte replied.

“So nag-iisa po siya?” Te followed up.

“Yes, sir,” the mayor affirmed.

Duterte was subpoenaed by the Senate impeachment court to testify on Davao City’s contracts with Gencorp, which was declared in Vice President Sara Duterte’s 2024 and 2025 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).