[] 3 private business individuals linked to Cebu City Government’s P239.72M garbage services deal also indicted.
INFORMATION or formal indictment on two criminal charges has been filed by the Ombudsman with the Sandiganbayan against eight Cebu City Hall officials and employess --- led by city administrator Floro Casas Jr., the city treasurer and the city accountant -- along with three private individuals involved in the P239.72 million overpayment for garbage collection and disposal services in 2021.
And the 11 accused may be arrested any day now. Bail is available on the corruption charge but there’s no bail on the charge of malversation.
A source told me warrants of arrest are expected to be issued by the anti-graft court Friday afternoon, November 28, 2025, or next Monday, December 1. The Ombudsman information, signed October 2 by Graft Investigation & Prosecution Officer II Carla M. Echaves-Gonzaga, finally reached Sandiganbayan Monday, November 24.
ARREST WARRANTS LIST. The bigger and public personalities who face arrest are city administrator Casas Jr., city treasurer Mare Vae Fernandez-Reyes and city accountant Jerome V. Ornopia, along with two department heads: John Jigo G. Dacua, public services, and Grace M. Luardo-Silva, garbage collection and disposal and environmental team. Three inspection officers are included: Allen O. Ceballos, Romelito A. Datan and Mark A. Ugbinar.
The eight officials and employees were ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman in a March 14, 2024 resolution. (Casas resigned much earlier, on November 24, 2021, after then mayor Edgardo Labella had died five days before.)
The private individuals are connected with Docast Construction and General Supply and JJ&J Construction and General Supply, the companies with which the City Government entered into a JVA. The three from Docast/JJ&J are Jayra Angelic M. Ruiz-Javier, managing officer; David Sevilles Javier, OIC, operations manager; and Erika May S. Quino, encoder.
TWIN CHARGES: The two charges are for malversation of public funds under the Revised Penal Code and for violation of the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The alleged malversation: The accused “consented to or permitted” Docast/JJ&J contractors to take the total amount of P239,728,280.62, which the City “overpaid” by doctored, faulty or incorrect billing. The alleged corruption: The accused allegedly gave “unwarranted benefits” to contractors Docast/JJ&J and “caused undue injury” to the City Government.
OVERPAYMENT. It was a case of overpayment for garbage collection and disposal under a joint venture agreement with two private contractors, committed in various ways, including padding weight, falsifying papers and making the City pay for its own labor and equipment, such as charging fees for the labor and vehicles of barangays and City Hall.
The contractors under the JVA were to collect garbage, for a fee of P1,800 per ton, throughout the city and dispose of them by turning them over to the dumpsite in Binaliw, run by ARN Central Waste Management, Inc., a privately owned firm, which charges its own fee for the dumping.
The defective or tampered billing, resulting in overpayment by the City Government, was apparently due to a flawed system that enabled collusion and fraud.
OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THE CITY. The charges before the Sandiganbayan said the government officials and employees “have the duty or obligation to protect the Cebu City Government’s funds and to pay the correct billing statements after proper verification, monitoring and review.”
Instead, the indictment read, they connived with one another and with private individuals, the three accused managers of Docast/JJ&J, to allow the two firms to take the P239.72 million “unlawfully and feloniously.”