The Sandiganbayan did not allow former Quezon City mayor Herbert “Bistek” M. Bautista and then city administrator Aldrin C. Cuña to challenge the alleged weakness of the prosecution’s evidence in the P32.1 million graft charge filed against them.
They were charged with graft on the payment of P32.1 million to Geodata Solutions, Inc. for the procurement of online occupational permitting and tracking system in 2019.
The prosecution alleged that there was no appropriate city ordinance issued by the city council for the project and there was no complete delivery of the procured system.
In separate motions, Bautista and Cuña asked the Sandiganbayan’s approval to file a demurrer to evidence. Their plea was denied.
Had the permission sought been allowed, they would be permitted to file a demurrer to evidence and ask the dismissal of the charge against them on allegation of weakness of the prosecution’s evidence to sustain a conviction.
With the denial, both Bautista and Cuña will now have to submit their evidence to rebut the charges.
In denying their pleas, the Sandiganbayan said: "At this stage, the claims and defenses of the accused vis-a-vis the evidence presented by the prosecution are not yet weighed in. They are best left until the presentation of defense evidence where both accused shall have the opportunity to refute the evidence against them, at least on the charge of 'incomplete delivery.”
"The resolution of a motion for leave to demur to the evidence, after all, is hinged not on the claims and defenses of the accused, but on the sufficiency of the prosecution evidence," the court said.
The anti-graft court’s 23-page resolution was written by Seventh Division Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta with the concurrence of Associate Justices Zaldy V. Trespeses and Georgina D. Hidalgo.
Bautista and Cuña are also facing a separate graft charge before the Sandiganbayan’s third division over the P25.3 million payment made to Cygnet Energy and Power Asia Inc.
The prosecution alleged that Bautista and Cuña made the full payment to Cygnet for the supply and installation of solar power system and waterproofing works for the city’s Civic Center Building.
It also alleged that Cygnet was not entitled to the said amount due to its failure to get the Net Metering System from the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which is a requirement under the Supply and Delivery Agreement.