Prosecutors Justify Dropping Plunder, Graft Raps vs. Bonoan for State Witness Role

MANILA, Philippines — State prosecutors argued on Wednesday that their motion to file an amended information to discharge former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan from the plunder and graft cases against him would not prejudice his coaccused. “It is our position that it is just a textual change,” Assistant State Prosecutor III Reza Casila-Derayunan told reporters on Wednesday after an hour-long clarificatory hearing on the motion before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division. “It’s not a substantial amendment but merely describes the mechanism of an act already charged in the original information,” she stressed. “It does not cause prejudice to the others.” Prosecutors sought the discharge in a bid to turn Bonoan into a state witness with Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier saying he would be used to strengthen cases against other suspects in the flood control scam. READ: Estrada opposes bid to drop Bonoan from graft case to be state witness Bonoan’s coaccused are Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr. Along with Bonoan, they are accused of graft and plunder over allegedly illegal budget insertions and project allocations worth P573 million in the DPWH budget for 2025. “Our expectation is that Secretary Bonoan will be denying the charge in this case. We will be deprived of that defense,” said Estrada’s lawyer Laurence Hector Arroyo. READ: Police take ex-DPWH chief Bonoan from PNP hospital to Sandiganbayan Cortuna’s lawyer, Eldrige Aceron, also argued that Bonoan’s admittance would prejudice his client. “When they changed the text of the information from ‘Estrada and Bonoan’ to ‘Estrada and/or/through Bonoan,’ there is now prejudice,” he said. However, Estrada and Bonoan have yet to be arraigned while their three coaccused already entered a not guilty plea last June. Citing Rule 110 (Section 14) of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, Casila-Derayunan argued that “a complaint or information may be amended, in form or in substance, without leave of court, at any time before the accused enters his plea.” After the hearing, Sandiganbayan Fifth Division chair Zaldy Trespesses said the matter is now deemed submitted for resolution. The court aims to resolve the matter before July 28, when both Estrada and Bonoan are scheduled to be arraigned. “We remain steadfast in our position, and we are hoping for the best because we are going to utilize Bonoan as our witness, so we need to have him excluded from the information. We remain hopeful,” Casila-Derayunan said. /cb