Former Quezon City mayor Herbert “Bistek” M. Bautista and former city administrator Aldrin C. Cuña have been convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan on the anomalous procurement of the P32.1 million online occupational permitting and tracking system (OOPTS) in 2019.
In a 146-page decision promulgated Monday, Jan. 20, the Sandiganbayan Special Seventh Division found Bautista and Cuña “guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act)."
“They are each sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) month as minimum to ten (10) years as maximum. Additionally, said accused are sentenced to suffer perpetual disqualification to hold public office,” the anti-graft cour ruled.
On the other hand, the court said it could adjudge civil liability against the two accused since the amount P32,107,912.50 had been received in full by the contractor, Geodata Solutions, Inc. which is not a party in the case.
The decision was written by Associate Justice Ma. Theres Dolores C. Gomez Estoesta with the concurrence of Associate Justice Zaldy V. Tresperes. Associate Justice Georgina D. Hidalgo dissented.
The procurement of the OOPTS worth P32,107,912.50 was awarded in 2019 to Geodata Solutions.
In charging Bautista and Cuña, the prosecution alleged that the project was awarded to Geodata Solutions despite the absence of a specific appropriation ordinance and that there was no complete delivery of the project.
The Sandiganbayan reminded that it issued a resolution dated March 8, 2024 that found that “there was a specific appropriation ordinance enacted by the City Council for the procurement of the OOPTS.”
However, the anti-graft court said Geodata received full payment for the project before the end of June 2019 even though the terms of reference between the contractor and the local government was not complied with.
In approving the payment, the anti-graft court stated “there was undoubtedly an unwarranted benefit, advantage, or preference given to Geodata.”
“The real score was not to rush payment when all the environment variables required under the Terms of Reference should have been complied with,” said the Sandiganbayan which noted that Bautista approved the payment before the end of his term on June 2019.
“Accused Bautista could have simply endorsed the Project to his successor who could have tested and ran the OOPTS to go online before the full payment of the project,” it added.
It cited that under the Supply and Delivery Agreement, “Geodata was bound to deliver the same within a six-month delivery period beginning on June 7, 2019 until December 7, 2019.”
“Yet, payment was approved and released to Geodata at the end of 2019, in spite of the numerous glitches, crashes, and non-functional features afflicting its application,” the court said.
Because of Geodata’s failure to complete the delivery of the system, the court pointed out that “the OOPTS could only be publicly launched in late 2021 to early 2022 after it was essentially overhauled or merged into a ‘Hybrid System’ to function as designed.”