The Sandiganbayan has rejected the appeal of former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and former city administrator Aldrin Cuña to overturn their conviction in connection with a ₱32.1 million graft case involving a defective digital permit system.
In its ruling, the anti-graft court affirmed the guilty verdict against Bautista and Cuña for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act after they approved full payment to Geodata Solutions Inc. in 2019, despite the system being incomplete and faulty.
The court noted that the two officials expedited the disbursement of funds just two days before leaving office on June 30, 2019, even though the software component of the purchased equipment had not yet been delivered.
Sandiganbayan also cited the duo’s failure to address glaring “red flags” that should have warranted the cancellation of the transaction.
As a result, Bautista and Cuña were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay ₱32,107,912.50 in restitution for the misused government funds.
In addition to this case, Bautista and Cuña are also facing another graft case involving a ₱25.34 million payment for a solar power and waterproofing project in a city building in 2019.