House prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte have singled out a common figure appearing across corporate records: an individual named Jaime T. Cruz.
During proceedings before the Senate impeachment court, prosecutors highlighted Cruz’s recurring presence in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings as part of their strategy to expose what they describe as “interlocking” leadership structures among companies connected to the Vice President and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio.
Private prosecutor Erwin Matib flagged Cruz’s prominent role while introducing the testimony of SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo Fernando Del Rosario, the prosecution’s third witness under Article II. This specific article of impeachment accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth and holding prohibited business interests while in office.
“Ang Gencorp. Industries at iba pang mga kumpanya ni Vice President ay may mga interlocking shareholders, directors at officers,” Matib explained to the senator-judges. “Isa na dito ay si Jaime T. Cruz. At ang pangalan ni Jaime T. Cruz ay paulit-ulit na lumalabas sa mga SEC documents.”
The prosecution panel has assembled over 200 exhibits comprising more than 3,000 pages of official SEC documents. These filings detail the incorporators, board members, corporate officers, and stockholders of various entities, including Gencorp Industries Inc., an enterprise in which Duterte formally declared a financial interest on her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
By examining these corporate trails, prosecutors aim to uncover whether the network of shared directors and shareholders links back to the Vice President’s financial growth and whether she maintained unauthorized business interests while serving as Vice President, a direct violation outlined in Article II.
While the exact extent of Cruz’s holdings and his precise connection to the Duterte-Carpio family have yet to be fully detailed through Del Rosario’s ongoing testimony, prosecutors indicated that his frequent presence across multiple corporate filings makes him a crucial element in their evidentiary presentation.
Del Rosario’s appearance marks a pivotal transition for the prosecution, moving from the initial examination of Duterte’s raw SALN declarations to a deep dive into corporate registries to verify whether her reported income aligns with official corporate financial records.