Davao City aide signed food contracts with firm linked to Vice President Sara Duterte

Food supply contracts worth millions of pesos that Davao City Hall awarded to Gencorp Industries Inc., a company listed in Vice President Sara Duterte's Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), were signed by assistant city administrator Tristan Dwight P. Domingo rather than Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, according to Rappler.

Rappler said the arrangement raises questions about the city's procurement process and possible conflicts of interest, since the contracts were awarded under the administration of the mayor, who is the Vice President's brother. The outlet first reported in September that Gencorp had secured the food supply contracts.

One contract obtained by Rappler cited Executive Order No. 28, dated July 1, 2022, as the basis for Domingo's authority to sign for the mayor. Domingo's LinkedIn profile describes him as the mayor's duly authorized representative and the head of the procuring entity, the official who approves or rejects recommendations of the Bids and Awards Committee.

Testifying as a witness during the Vice President's impeachment trial, Mayor Duterte said he delegated contract-signing authority to Domingo so he could focus on other duties. In a September statement, the mayor said he and other City Hall officials and employees "never had any knowledge of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte holding an interest in Gencorp," and maintained that all city transactions with the company complied with procurement laws.

Domingo's post predates the current mayor's term. Citing a SunStar report, Rappler said Sara Duterte appointed him assistant city administrator in 2013, a day before she went on maternity leave as mayor. He was previously acting chief of the Davao City Business Bureau. A Philstar report cited by Rappler said that in 2016 she also authorized him to file charges against city officials and employees over offenses committed in the performance of their duties.

Domingo also serves as the city's data protection officer and is listed as project manager for the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, also called the Davao Bus Project, and for the planned waste-to-energy facilities, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is a lawyer who graduated from Ateneo de Davao University's law school and studied political science and sociology at the University of the Philippines Baguio.