The Sandiganbayan on Monday convicted former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista of graft for colluding with an aide to defraud the local government of P32.1 million in the procurement of an online occupational permitting and tracking system (OOPTS) in 2019.

The erstwhile actor-turned-politician was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, along with former Quezon City administrator Aldrin Cuña, who was convicted of the same charge. Both were perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

The court, however, did not order Bautista and Cuña to pay the civil liability or fine of P32,107,912.50 — equivalent to the embezzled sum — since it was already received in full by the private party, which was not a party to the case.

Graft investigators alleged that Bautista and Cuña colluded to award the contract worth P32.1 million to Geodata Solutions Inc. for an OOPTS, despite the absence of a specific appropriation ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Panglungsod.

Lawyer John Thomas Alferos III, appointed as the Sangguniang Panglungsod secretary in 2017, testified on the lack of a legislative measure for the OOPTS. He stated that while the “source of funds is placed in the annual appropriation ordinance, a particular project is not.”

Court records showed that Bautista and Cuña expedited the release of the payment to Geodata, even though delivery had not yet been made. The payment was released two days before their terms of office ended in June 2019. Bautista served as Quezon City mayor from July 2010 to June 2019.

According to the court, the act demonstrated “corrupt intent, dishonest design, or some unethical interest.”

“In less than 24 hours, Disbursement Voucher 2019-06-907433 was processed by three different departments, and a check for payment was prepared. This was remarkable because the transmittal of a document from one office to another typically took one business day,” the decision read.

Investigation also revealed that Geodata could not make the system fully accessible online at the time of the payment in 2019. The online system was publicly launched and fully operational only in 2021.

Unwarranted

“The respective acts of the accused in the approval of payment, and also in the release of a check in favor of Geodata without complete delivery of the project, constitute unwarranted benefit, advantage, or preference,” the court said.

Bautista denied any irregularity in the bidding procedure and project implementation. He argued that he was not part of the bids and awards committee (BAC), which conducted the public bidding and declared Geodata the winning bidder.

Bautista claimed his role was limited to signing the BAC resolution recommending the award to Geodata.

The Sandiganbayan, however, countered that Bautista could not claim ignorance as it was his responsibility to carefully review the supporting documents.

“Accused Bautista nonetheless maintains that he placed complete trust in the competency of his subordinates, so much so that he simply relied on the certifications and reports they issued before approving payment to the supplier. He thus invokes the Arias doctrine to exculpate himself from the charge,” the court stated.

As for Cuña, the Sandiganbayan ruled that he was also liable for failing to exercise due diligence in examining the documents, considering that he was the final signatory before the issuance of a check to Geodata.

In addition to this case, Bautista and Cuña are facing another graft case before the Sandiganbayan over irregularities involving the payment of P25.342 million to Cygnet Energy Power Asia Inc. for the installation of a solar power system and waterproofing work at a Quezon City building also in 2019.