Sandiganbayan junks graft cases vs 5 Cebu City officials over waste contracts

The Sandiganbayan has thrown out graft cases against five Cebu City officials accused of rigging waste management contracts worth millions of pesos — because prosecutors couldn't even say what they supposedly did wrong.

In a 14-page ruling, the anti-graft court's 7th Division granted motions to quash the informations filed against members of the city's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Goods and Services. Associate Justice Lorifel Lacap Pahimna wrote the resolution, with Associate Justices Georgina Hidalgo and Hans Chester Nocom concurring.

"The Informations did not include the actual recital of facts allegedly committed by the accused and did not describe it with particularity which would apprise the accused with reasonable certainty of the offenses charged," the court said.

The charges stemmed from contracts awarded in December 2021, right after Typhoon Odette devastated Cebu. The BAC awarded deals to Jomara Konstruckt Corporation, ACM Hauling Services, and ARN Central Waste Management Incorporated for collecting and disposing 1,886 tons of waste, hauling 3,597 tons, and tipping fees for 50,000 tons.

The Office of the Ombudsman, acting on a complaint from a certain Jundel Bontuyan in August 2023, filed graft charges against then-BAC members Leizl Jacobe Calamba, Lyndon Bernardo Jao Basan, Conrado Acha Ordestra III, Janeses Bordario Ponce, and Dominic Amigable Diño. Former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama was also charged but wasn't covered by this ruling — his case remains active.

The prosecution accused them of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and procurement laws, specifically Annex H of the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184. But the court found the accusations too vague.

On January 27, 2026, the court ordered prosecutors to fix the three informations filed on July 21, 2025. The amendments came on March 23, 2026. But instead of adding specific details, the court said prosecutors "merely extracted" the legal provision and still didn't describe how each accused actually broke the law.

"While the amended informations mentioned the elements of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019, the prosecution failed to explicitly indicate the acts and facts how the accused committed the offenses charged," the ruling stated.

The court also noted that prosecutors didn't even name the representatives of the companies that supposedly got an unfair advantage. "More so, despite the opportunity afforded to the prosecution to rectify the sufficiency of the subject informations, and still failed to do so, the court is constrained to quash the informations on the ground that the facts charged do not constitute an offense."

So the five BAC members walk — at least for now. The Ombudsman could refile if they can actually spell out what happened. Mayor Rama's case remains pending.