But Rama case still pending: Sandiganbayan clears BAC members

CEBU, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the graft charges against five Cebu City Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members over garbage contracts worth nearly P45 million, while former Mayor Michael Rama's case remains pending before the court.

In its June 2, 2026 resolution, the Seventh Division of the anti-graft court granted the motions to quash filed separately by BAC members Leizl Jacobe Calamba, Lyndon Bernardo Jao Basan, Conrado Acha Ordesta III, Janeses Bordario Ponce, and Dominic Amigable Diño.

Each motion argued that the informations filed by prosecutors were defective citing they failed to narrate specific acts of corruption or negligence.

The graft cases stemmed from contracts awarded in December 2021 to three private firms, Jomara Konstrukt Corporation (P4.99 million), ACM Hauling Services (P4.96 million), and ARN Central Waste Management, Inc. (P35 million).

Prosecutors accused the officials, including Rama, of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly favoring the companies and causing losses to the government.

However, the Sandiganbayan found the amended charges “defective.”

The court explained that the information merely cited procurement rules and technical subsections from Annex “H” of the Government Procurement Policy Board’s Resolution No. 03-2020 without narrating the actual irregularities.

It stressed that violating procurement procedures alone does not automatically amount to graft.

For a graft case to prosper, prosecutors must prove that officials acted with corrupt intent or negligence and that their actions caused harm to the government or gave unfair benefits to private parties.

The ruling relied on the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Paguirigan v. People, which emphasized that criminal charges must describe the alleged wrongdoing in plain, understandable terms so the accused can properly defend themselves.

Despite being given several opportunities to amend the information, prosecutors accordingly failed to provide the necessary details.

The court also noted that it was unusual that the charges did not even implicate representatives of the private companies that supposedly benefited.

In its dispositive portion, the Sandiganbayan declared: “Accordingly, the following motions are hereby granted.” The motions referred to were those filed by the BAC members.

Rama, however, was not included, leaving his case outside the scope of the dismissal.

“Criminal Case Nos.SB-25-CRM-0033, SB-25-CRM-0034 and SB-25-CRM-0035 against accused Dino, Ponce, Calamba, Ordesta and Basan are hereby dismissed,” the Sandiganbayan ruling reads.

The court also noted that the motion to compel the prosecution to comply with its January order, filed by Basan, was “noted for being moot and academic.”

Rama, in an interview with THE FREEMAN, expressed optimism that he too would eventually be cleared.

“It cannot be, that the HoPE(head of the procuring entity) will not be included... I’m just of the opinion that maybe tomorrow,” he said, adding that he would look into the matter further.

Rama said he was happy for his former employees, calling the dismissal an encouragement for those who had served under him.

He added: “You must remember nga ang ilaha ato was conspiracy… The act of one, is the act of all… So pagka dismiss sa kaso sa uban, e apil gyud ng usa kabuok, which is ako…Ampo lang ta ani,” Rama said. —/IHM (FREEMAN)