FORMER Quezon City (QC) Mayor Herbert M. Bautista was found guilty of graft over a P32.1-million procurement deal with a local software company in 2019, the Philippine anti-graft court said on Monday.

In a 146-page decision, released on Jan. 20, the Sandiganbayan Special Seventh Division convicted Mr. Bautista and a former city administrator for the procurement of an online application system, Online Occupational Permitting Tracking System (OOPTS), which expedites processing of occupational permits.

Imprisonment of six to ten years and perpetual disqualification from public office were meted out by the court on the convicted officials.

But they won’t be ordered to pay back the P32.1-million involved in the deal as “it cannot be directed to be paid by either accused,” with the software company not a respondent to the case, a part of the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta.

The camp of Mr. Bautista said they are “deeply saddened” by the decision, maintaining that the former mayor is innocent, his legal counsel, Nilo T. Divina, told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

We “assert that no act constituting the offense was committed. Notably, the vote was split 2-1, highlighting reasonable doubt,” he noted.

“Evidence presented in the trial confirmed the project was delivered and received by the Quezon City Government, with payment made by the succeeding administration. Mayor Bautista did not financially benefit from the project, and no harm or injury was incurred by the city or its people.”

Mr. Divina said they will file a motion for reconsideration, in the hopes that a thorough review of the evidence will affirm Mr. Bautista’s innocence.

The former mayor had denied any irregularities in the bidding procedure and implementation of the project, the ruling read in part. He had also denied conspiring with his co-accused to defraud the government.

Mr. Bautista sought the case’s dismissal last year, but the Sandiganbayan rejected it, saying the case deserved a full-blown trial after finding probable cause.

The case emerged in 2019 after an internal audit revealed that full payment was made to the contracted software company for OOPTS despite the incomplete delivery of the project.

“Complaints on the non-functionality of the OOPTS (Online Occupational Permitting Tracking System) spurred an internal audit which revealed that the delivery of the project was not complete; yet, full payment was made to the supplier,” the decision stated.

The former mayor had said he received no reports that the project was defective or incompletely delivered. He also argued that there were reports by the Quezon City government’s General Services Department (GSD) and Information Technology Development Department (ITDD) finding that the delivery of the system was in order.

The Court, however, said that there were “visible red flags” in the inspection reports of GSD and ITDD, which should have been noticed by Mr. Bautista and his co-accused. The report particularly lacked photos and manuals from the delivery inspected by the GSD, while the ITDD remarked the online application itself was not included.

“This notation should have been the brunt that should have cautioned one’s guard. An online system without the software application defied the very essence of the Project,” the ruling read.

The Sandiganbayan also noted that the OOPTS was launched in “late 2021 to early 2022,” almost three years after the payment’s release. “Payment was approved and released to [the software company] at the end of June 2019, in spite of numerous glitches, crashes, and non-functional features afflicting its application.”

The ex-mayor should have endorsed the project to his successor instead of rushing the payment, the anti-graft court said. – Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

THE HOUSE of Representatives on Monday approved on second reading a measure seeking to raise the Development Bank of the Philippines’ (DBP) authorized capital stock to P300 billion from P35 billion.

Through voice voting, congressmen agreed to House Bill (HB) No. 11230, which would repeal DBP’s almost 27-year-old charter, a move that would allow the lender to better finance infrastructure projects and small businesses.

This is a shift away from the state-run bank’s current charter, which is currently focused on providing services to agricultural and industrial enterprises.

“[The] amendments will provide and expand the powers and functions of DBP with the corresponding needed increase in its capitalization [and] enhance the bank’s ability to ensure continuity of developmental service to the nation,” Manila Rep. Erwin C. Tieng, who heads the House banks committee, told lawmakers during his sponsorship speech.

The Finance department is supporting the congressional approval of proposals granting the DBP a new charter, it said in an earlier statement. It would provide the state-run bank with more efficient access to capital and reduce its dependency on the National Government through dividend relief.

The Senate approved its counterpart version of the measure in Sept. 2024.

Under the bill, the DBP would be allowed to issue stocks through an initial public offering, allowing the public to own up to 30% of the lender’s capital stock, pending the “manner and quantities” approved by the Finance secretary.

“The capital stock of the bank shall be P300 billion, divided into 3 billion shares, with a par value of P100 per share,” the bill stated.

The National Government is mandated to own 70% of the bank’s stocks at all times, while 10.67%, or P32 billion of the stock, should be subscribed to and paid from state coffers.

The DBP is authorized to allocate a “part or all” of its unrestricted retained earnings towards increasing the National Government’s paid-up capital stock.

The state-run bank would be allowed to give loans for the development of physical and digital infrastructure, while also lending for tourism and energy development purposes.

It also would enable the DBP to extend financial support to micro, small, and medium enterprises, government-owned or -controlled corporations, and local government units, the bill stated.

Mr. Tieng said the bill also allows the government bank to engage in “traditional and non-traditional modes of financing,” which would allow it to fund the acquisition and construction of government properties, such as Philippine embassies abroad.

Amending the DBP’s charter would allow the bank to be more responsive to the “evolving needs” of the Philippine economy, according to John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

“The current DBP charter may no longer align with the evolving needs of the economy, especially as the country focuses on inclusive growth, infrastructure development, and digital transformation,” he said in a Viber message before the bill’s approval.

The proposed chapter could help align the bank’s priorities with the government’s long-term socioeconomic development plans, such as the Marcos administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

THE Philippine Congress should fast-track the approval of proposed laws to make food affordable, a congressman said on Monday, as the Agriculture department looks to declare a food security emergency to curb mounting food prices.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said last week his department will likely declare a food security emergency as market prices for rice remain stubbornly high.

In a statement, Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee said lawmakers should immediately pass bills he filed, such as House Bills (HB) No. 3957 and 9020, which he described as providing needed support to Filipino farmers.

“If there is complete support for local farmers, there would be no need to declare a food security emergency,” he said in a statement. “By enacting these proposed laws, we believe that the price of rice can be reduced until the government’s goal of twenty pesos per kilo is achieved.”

HB No. 3957, filed in Aug. 2022, seeks to establish Kadiwa centers nationwide to make below-market-price food products readily accessible.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lee filed HB No. 9020 in Aug. 2023, which aims to create a “price stabilization program for rice” to help secure farmers against price declines and shocks.

“Aside from the stop-gap measures that the government is implementing to immediately alleviate the burden on consumers due to high prices… we also need to start implementing long-term solutions where both farmers and consumers will benefit and be helped,” Mr. Lee said.

In a separate statement, Party-list Rep. Percival V. Cendaña said the government should take “decisive action” against rice cartels keeping rice prices elevated.

“We need to teach these greedy, exploitative businessmen a lesson — imprison them, if necessary,” he said in Filipino. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

THE Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Philippine Heart Center for violating the 2019 Universal Healthcare Act by failing to provide patients with an accessible price list of all health services and goods.

In a December report, state auditors said the state’s heart hospital lacks a “publicly accessible price list” of its health services, depriving its patients the ability to make informed medical decisions.

“The non-availability of such a list results in a significant information gap for patients and the general public, depriving them of the opportunity to make informed decisions about their healthcare choices,” the CoA said.

The Philippine Heart Center did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The Universal Healthcare Act mandates hospitals and clinics to prepare a “readily accessible” information sheet about the prices of health services and medical goods it offers to patients, according to the audit report.

“During the audit, it was observed that rates for some medical and surgical procedures, laboratory tests, and imaging diagnostic tests were published on the Center’s official website… However, other prevailing rates or prices of health services and goods offered are not readily accessible,” the report stated. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio