Herbert Bautista, ex-Quezon City exec face P57.4 million graft raps

MANILA, Philippines — Former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and administrator Aldrin Cuña are facing graft charges before the Sandiganbayan in connection with allegedly anomalous midnight projects worth P57.4 million in 2019.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on March 15, the charges involve two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to a private party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

One of the two cases stemmed from the payment of P25.342 million to Cygnet Energy Power Asia Inc. (Cygnet) for the supposed installation of a solar power system and for waterproofing works at the city hall’s Civic Center Building.

The ombudsman said Bautista approved the release of full payment to Cygnet despite the company’s failure to apply for and secure a net metering system from Manila Electric Co., which was a pre-requisite for the project.

The ombudsman added that the payment was released based merely on an undated certificate of acceptance issued by Cuña.

The other case stemmed from the payment of P32.108 million to Geodata Solutions Inc. for a supposed “online occupational permitting and tracking system” project.

The ombudsman said Bautista entered into a contract with Geodata and approved the release of payment to the latter despite the absence of a specific budget appropriation ordinance enacted by the city council.

Instead, the ombudsman said, Cuña signed the purchase request and the obligation request to make it appear that the release of the fund was lawful and under his direct supervision.

Furthermore, the ombudsman said, full payment was made to Geodata “without complete delivery of the project.”

Based on the charge sheets, payments to both Cygnet and Geodata were approved by Bautista on June 27, 2019 or three days before he stepped down from office after his three terms as mayor.

The ombudsman recommended a P90,000 bail bond for each case.

Records from the Sandiganbayan showed that Bautista and Cuña have posted bail.

The charge sheets were prepared by Assistant Special Prosecutor III Lyn Dimayuga and approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires.

Among those listed by the ombudsman as its witnesses for the cases were lawyer Carlo Austria of the city legal department, city internal auditor Noel Emmanual Gascon, city council secretary John Thomas Alferos III and the occupational licensing division under the business permit and licensing department officer-in-charge Ramon Jesus Africa.