Ex-QC mayor charged with graft

A graft complaint has been filed against former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and two others before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with an alleged “unauthorized” solar power system project.

Charged along with Bautista were former city administrator Aldrin Cuña and former city engineer Joselito Cabungcal.

The QC government accused the three of illegally disbursing P25.3 million in favor of Cygnet Energy and Power Asia Inc. (Cygnet) without the local council’s approval.

The complaint alleged that since there was no prior authorization by the City Council, the project was unlawful.

On June 14, 2019, Bautista awarded the project to Cygnet with a bid of P27.6 million.

“[ Then] mayor ( Bautista) approved the project and the project was paid in full,” Orlando Paolo Casimiro of the city’s legal department told The

ManilaTimes. “Kahitwalapa‘yung net metering system, which is part of the contract, nabayarannanangbuo

( Even if the required net metering system was not yet delivered, which is part of the contract, it was paid in full),” he added.

The contract required that a Net Metering System from Meralco be installed for the project, he added.

To date, the solar panel system is not yet operational, Casimiro said.

The project was supposed to provide a solar photovoltaic system atop Civic Building F within the City Hall Compound.

Bautista and several others were also charged with plunder before the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged illegal disbursement of P263 million for the QC Smart City Data Infrastructure project.

The complaint was filed by Noel Emmanuel Gascon, internal auditor of the QC government’s Internal Audit Service.