Prosecution witness Gerardo del Rosario, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Company Registration and Monitoring Department, who testified yesterday on the businesses linked to Vice President Sara Duterte, will be cross-examined by defense lawyers today, the 28th day of the VP’s impeachment trial.
The House prosecution panel presented Del Rosario on Monday in its efforts to prove that Duterte has unexplained and undisclosed wealth.
Thus far, Del Rosario testified that Duterte, despite already holding office as vice president, remained an incorporator and director of Metro City Chow Foods Corp., which she declared in her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) from 2022 to 2025.
Del Rosario noted, however, that the Constitution prohibits the vice president, along with other high-ranking officials, from holding other offices or having business interests to prevent conflicts of interest.
Del Rosario was citing Article VII, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution, which reads: ‘The president, vice president… shall not, unless otherwise 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 business… They shall strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office.’
In accordance with this provision, Duterte should have divested from all businesses before she took the oath as vice president, former Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang previously testified.
But Del Rosario confirmed that Duterte has yet to transfer ownership of all her business interests, except for two corporations.
Further, of the 18 businesses linked to Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, as declared in the Vice President’s SALN, 10 businesses, including Metro Chow, had no dividends declared in their submissions to the SEC.
The remaining eight businesses, on the other hand, had no Audited Financial Statements.