September 21, 2026

Atty. Gerardo F. del Rosario, the SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director, testified as the prosecution's third Article II witness. He described his SEC role and the certified corporate records his department maintains.

On Metro City Chow, Del Rosario testified that the filings identified Vice President Sara Duterte as an incorporator, director and 20-percent shareholder, and later showed her as a board member and executive-compensation-committee member.

On GenCorp Industries, Del Rosario testified that the filings did not list the Vice President as an incorporator, director or stockholder. He said nominee and trust arrangements can exist generally, but he could not determine an arrangement's intent from the filings; he also said his SEC office had no beneficial-ownership-form access.

Del Rosario testified from CALE88 filings about the company's listed interests and financial advances, including filings that identified Manases Carpio's ownership. He also distinguished filings that reported no dividend declaration from corporations for which the SEC had no audited financial statement or dividend information.

The court limited identification of Pikimong Philippines and JTC Group records until a connection to the Vice President could be shown in a later subpoena request, while accepting the parties' stipulation on certified copies for the other corporations.

After the defense objected to newly received prosecution summaries, the court directed the parties to provide advance copies of tables and summaries and allowed the displayed presentation after it separated company figures from the Vice President's holdings.

The chair allowed an SEC-flagging question, sustained the defense objection to a question connecting GenCorp filings to the Vice President's SALN, and later directed prosecution counsel to move on from a separate SALN line of questioning.

The chair treated a prosecution screen as an illustration of testimony and sustained the defense objection to describing companies without filed audited financial statements as having no declared dividends. The chair later overruled the request to strike the illustration while noting the defense objection, and clarified that the SEC witness could not know whether dividends were declared where no audited financial statement had been filed.

The court accepted the prosecution's two corporate-information summaries for marking, and later directed that 'misrepresentation' be replaced with 'inaccuracies,' then revised the quoted phrase after 'attempt.'

Sen. Francis Pangilinan proposed that anticipated tables and summaries be distributed in advance; the chair directed the parties to do so for opposing counsel, the court and senator-judges.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano observed that a summary title could mislead viewers into treating company figures as the Vice President's figures, and proposed changing or removing the title or separating the Vice President's figures. The chair said the title should be changed and asked that it be adjusted.

Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ G. Escudero asked Del Rosario about ordinary incorporation practices and the relationship between corporate formation, board membership and shareholding. Del Rosario answered from SEC filing practice.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero distinguished ‘participate in business’ from ‘business interest’ while counsel read Article VII, then asked how the GIS categorized an associated person. Del Rosario said the GIS reflected reported data.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero asked about dividends, financial advances, retained earnings and the SEC reporting record. Del Rosario said dividends are paid when declared and that some requested information was not among the data monitored in the GIS.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero asked whether trust or nominee arrangements can occur and whether SEC records show their purpose. Del Rosario said such arrangements can exist but did not establish intent from the records before him.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero asked Del Rosario to clarify the displayed dividend information. Del Rosario explained which entities lacked filed audited financial statements; Escudero then distinguished that absence of information from a filing that reported no dividend declaration.

Sen. Raffy T. Tulfo made a manifestation about the constitutional restriction and the absence of advice he believed the Vice President should have received from legal advisers. It received no witness answer.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero turned Sen. Raffy T. Tulfo’s manifestation into questions about the SEC’s policy, notices and flagging procedures. Del Rosario said there was no relevant SEC policy, directive or flagging procedure in the record discussed.

Sen. Raffy T. Tulfo asked the defense about legal advice concerning the Vice President's 2022 activity. Defense counsel objected that the hypothetical called for a legal conclusion, and no answer was given.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked about dividends, losses and income reflected in the corporate materials, then about divestment or transfer records. Del Rosario answered from the filings and identified the limits of the SEC material he had reviewed.

Sen. Joel Villanueva asked about GenCorp, the Vice President's SALN, trust arrangements and beneficial ownership. Del Rosario answered about SEC-held records and later distinguished personal participation shown in SEC filings from matters not reflected there.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian asked about the compensation committee, management, Article VII and SEC authority, then about GenCorp filings, indirect control and how the SEC detects trust arrangements. Del Rosario answered from the records and described the limits of SEC detection.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked about local executives' business interests, board ownership and a possible SEC reminder or proactive measure. Del Rosario answered from SEC practice and said he would suggest the proposal to the Commission.

Sen. Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino asked about GenCorp's inclusion in the Vice President's SALN and its reported percentage, then about salary, per diem and financial or tax records. Del Rosario and Matib answered from the SEC materials and identified BIR records as a separate future evidentiary source.

Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero asked follow-up questions about per diem, salary, withholding and officer compensation.

Sen. Raffy T. Tulfo raised a question linking salary to ill-gotten wealth and then asked about additional records. The chair stopped the initial legal-conclusion line; Matib said BIR representatives would be presented, and Del Rosario addressed compensation allowed under bylaws and declaration of income.

Prosecution counsel Atty. Erwin G. Matib used certified SEC records and summaries to examine the witness on corporate roles, shareholdings, financial figures and dividends associated with several companies.

Matib argued that testimony could establish a connection between the Vice President and Pikimong Philippines or JTC Group for a later subpoena request.

At the close of direct examination, Matib said the prosecution would obtain BIR and other detailed financial records for later evidence, and requested marking of two corporate-information summaries.

Defense counsel Atty. Justin Nicol B. Gular accepted a stipulation that the witness could identify certified SEC records for most corporations, but objected to the Pikimong Philippines and JTC Group documents because he said no connection to the Vice President had been established.

Gular objected that newly received prosecution summaries were misleading because their title and company-capital figures could be read as the Vice President's figures, and said the defense had not had time to test their accuracy.

The defense objected to questions that sought conclusions outside the SEC witness's competence, including questions tying the filings to the Vice President's SALN, and challenged the relevance of later SALN questioning.

Gular argued that a visual saying 'no dividends declared' was inaccurate for corporations that had not filed an audited financial statement, and asked the court to strike the visuals and related questions as unfair and misrepresentative.

The court opened with a quorum announcement and the newly elected presiding officer, then later approved the September 16 journal without objection.

The prosecution substituted Del Rosario for Civil Service Commission witness Atty. Ronquillo; the court excused Ronquillo and deferred Atty. Sopeña while documents were being addressed. Del Rosario was sworn, examined before lunch, then recalled under the same oath after recess.

Following direct examination and senator-judge questions, the prosecution requested subpoenas for Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Atty. Gary Samonte and Police Major Joe Rickson Sanggalang for September 28 to 30. The court adjourned until September 22 at 10 a.m.

Del Rosario's direct examination ended, but the defense cross-examination was deferred to the next day so counsel could prepare and the court could begin earlier. The proceeding had not reached the prosecution's next witness.

Matib said BIR representatives would testify about annual income-tax returns; that evidence was not presented during this sitting.