Ex-QC Mayor Bautista, aide convicted for graft
The Sandiganbayan has found former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and former City Administrator Aldrin Cuña guilty of graft and sentenced them to six to 10 years in prison on top of a lifetime ban on holding public office.
In a 146-page decision promulgated on Monday, the antigraft court’s Special Seventh Division found the pair guilty of violating Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, over the P32.1 million Online Occupational Permitting Tracking System.
The system that allowed the processing and tracking of applications for occupational permits was awarded in 2019 to Geodata Solutions Inc., which was paid P32.1 million.
But prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman argued in their case that there was no ordinance that authorized the transaction.
In its decision, the Sandiganbayan said that the system from Geodata could not be accessed online and was also unable to generate an order of payment.
The system was also found to be “incompatible” with the city’s own information systems, it noted.
According to the court, it was incumbent upon Bautista, as the approving authority, and Cuña as the requesting party, to verify that the components of the project were compliant with the terms of reference before approving payment of P32.1 million to Geodata.
Bautista’s defense
In his defense, Bautista maintained that he placed his trust in his subordinates for the project while Cuña, being the final signatory, had the duty to examine the “numerous supporting documents” for the project.
Despite Bautista invoking the Arias doctrine, a Supreme Court ruling which states that office heads should rely on their subordinates, the Sandiganbayan said there were still “red flags” in the inspection reports, which should have alerted both city officials in the first place.
“[I]t is obvious that they (accused) cannot claim that they were unaware of the condition of the items delivered by Geodata,” the court said. “Clearly, there were missing components.”
The court also pointed out that the approval of payment and release of a check in favor of Geodata without complete delivery of the project, “constitutes unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference.”
Incomplete project
“There is more truth to the factual asseveration that the delivery of the project by Geodata was not complete,” it said, adding that the system itself was “not functional” upon inspection by the city government’s concerned office.
“It lacked critical functionalities, the most egregious of which was the inability to access the same by the public through the internet, despite the fact that the system itself was supposed to be an online occupational permitting system,” the court emphasized.
The court agreed with the prosecution’s argument that the case against Bautista and Cuña met the third element of the case, which was the granting of “unwarranted benefit” to Geodata.
“The rush to effect payment to Geodata just two days before the term of office of both accused expired reels with the corrupt intent, dishonest design, or some unethical interest if only to ensure that Geodata received the payment,” it said.
The court, however, did not require Bautista and Cuña to pay fines since the P32.1 million had been paid to Geodata which “was not a party to the case.”
The pair will also be under provisional liberty under the previous cash bond they posted with the court, as directed by Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta, the division chair and ponente of the case.
