Former Quezon City mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista and his former city administrator Aldrin Cuña were convicted of graft over a PHP 32 million 2019 contract for an Online Occupational Permitting and Tracking System (OOPTS).
The Sandiganbayan 7th Division found the Bautista and Cuña guilty on January 20, 2025, sentencing each to six to ten years in prison.
The anti-graft court did not require the two former officials to pay fines because the PHP 32 million in public funds was already given to the private company, which is not involved in the case.
Nevertheless, both former officials are banned for life from holding any government position because of their graft conviction.
The former officials face other pending cases in the 5th Division. The Office of the Ombudsman, in April 2023, filed two graft cases against Bautista before Sandiganbayan.
The first case alleged Bautista and Cuña of exercising partiality in awarding a PHP 32-million contract to Geodata Solutions despite the absence of a specific appropriation ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Panglungsod.
Another graft case accused the two of releasing PHP 25.3 million in public funds to Cygnet for installing a solar power system and waterproofing a civic center building, even though the company had not secured a net metering system from Meralco.
In November 2023, Bautista, Cuña, and Geodata Solutions, Inc. CEO Alberto Morales pleaded not guilty to a graft charge related to the purchase of a PHP 16 million hospital information system.
During his arraignment in May 2023, Bautista told reporters that the charge was “politically motivated,” but he did not name anyone he believed was behind the case against him.
