FORMER Quezon City mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista is set to be arraigned this morning before the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division on a pending graft charge.
In a 15-page resolution dated April 26, 2023, the anti-graft court notified Bautista that arraignment and pre-trial will proceed as earlier scheduled on May 18, 2023 at 8:30 in the morning.
The same resolution affirmed the validity of the graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on March 15, 2023 while denying Bautista’s motion seeking quashal or dismissal of the case.
The former mayor argued that the case had no basis since the Geodata contract underwent a competitive public bidding undertaken by the Bids and Awards Committee and was supported by the city’s Annual Procurement Plan (APP).
He likewise stressed that he did not make a single penny by way of profit from the transaction.
The Sandiganbayan however held that the issues he raised in his motion were evidentiary matters that are more properly discussed in a full-blown trial.
Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta penned the ruling with the concurrences of Associate Justices Zaldy V. Trespeses and Georgina D. Hidalgo.
