MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman has filed two graft cases against former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista before the Sandiganbayan involving two government projects in 2019.

Former city administrator Aldrin Cuña was named as co-accused in both cases which were approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Feb. 3, 2023.

The first case involved the release of the full payment of P32.107 million to an IT firm for the procurement of online occupation permitting and tracking system and others.

Bautista supposedly entered into a contract with the firm and approved the release of the full payment despite the absence of a specific appropriation ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Panglungsod.

The Ombudsman also said Cuña signed the purchase request which certified that the charge to the appropriation was lawful and under his direct supervision.

ABS-CBN News has reached out to the camp of Bautista and is awaiting reply.

The second graft case involved the payment of the full amount of P25.342 million to another firm for the installation of solar power system and waterproofing works for a civic center building.

The Ombudsman said Bautista signed the disbursement voucher approving the payment of the amount even if the company failed to secure a net metering system from Meralco while Cuña issued a certificate of acceptance.

The bail bond recommended by the Ombudsman for each of the two graft cases was P90,000 for each of the accused.

The cases were received by the Sandiganbayan on March 15, 2023.

Upon raffle, the first case went to the 7th Division while the second case went to the 3rd Division.

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