Ex-DPWH chief turned state witness to bolster cases vs Romualdez, Revilla

Former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan —INQUIRER PHOTO/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman made the “tough decision” to make former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan a state witness to strengthen the case to be filed against Leyte Rep. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez over the flood control scam, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said on Tuesday. “The reason why we made him a state witness is because of the grand case of conspiracy and plunder and the root cause of all of this is [Romualdez],” Clavano said in a press conference. He added that the House of Representatives under Romualdez manipulated the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), then led by Bonoan. READ: Remulla: Ex-DPWH chief Bonoan to be used as state witness “In this scheme we know that the lawmakers are the ones calling the shots,” Clavano said. “The former House Speaker may have had a big role to play when we talk about percentages.” The Office of the Ombudsman earlier said it has made a preliminary finding of probable cause against Romualdez for plunder, direct and indirect bribery, and money laundering. The former House speaker is accused of masterminding an “alleged kickback scheme tied to flood control projects … with the total amount of such kickbacks reaching approximately [P56 billion].” Romualdez has denied the allegation, saying he does not have “functional control” over the budget process as the spending proposal comes from the President and is deliberated by Congress. The Inquirer contacted Romualdez’s counsel Ade Fajardo for comment but he had yet to respond as of press time. READ: Lacson: Those who dealt with Bonoan must be ‘quaking in their boots’ Clavano noted that “corruption, in this magnitude, especially,” has no paper trail. “What you can get, however, are conversations, statements, testimonies from people who were there in the room, so the role of Secretary Bonoan is very important.” “He was there himself, he talked to the congressmen himself, he talked to the cabinet secretaries himself,” he said. According to Clavano, they considered Bonoan’s age and illnesses before state prosecutors filed a motion to drop the P573-million plunder case against him in the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division, where Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is a co-accused. The court earlier granted the ex-DPWH official’s petition for hospital arrest due to his many ailments: chronic renal disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, gouty arthritis, a spinal condition called spondylolisthesis and prostate cancer. “If Bonoan was convicted of plunder [and sentenced to prison for] 40 years, do you think he would last until 120 years old inside the prison?” Clavano said of the 80-year-old Bonoan. “You have somebody who was charged already with plunder, and you have another case which could change the history of the Philippines because we are trying to exact accountability for one of the biggest heists of our budget,” Clavano said. “We would rather go for the bigger case than have him (Bonoan) rot in jail for how many years.” State prosecutors said Bonoan is also being eyed as a government witness in the malversation case against former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division over an alleged P92.8-million “ghost” project in Pandi, Bulacan. Office of the Ombudsman Deputy Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal told the Inquirer that Bonoan can testify only if he is dropped as a co-respondent in Estrada’s plunder case, prompting them to submit such a manifestation to the court division. As a result, the arraignment of Estrada and Bonoan on the charge of plunder was moved from June 30 to July 28. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday the “institutional knowledge” of Bonoan as a former DPWH secretary would help them “prove many cases” against those implicated in the flood control scandal. “We will be benefiting from his testimony with regard to so many of the cases that we are filing,” he added. Reacting to the news, Malacañang said it will not meddle with the Ombudsman’s move to make Bonoan a state witness in a number of cases related to the flood control controversy. “We do not interfere in whatever policy the Ombudsman may adopt because it is an independent body,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a briefing. “We will also not intervene in whatever process the Ombudsman chooses to undertake, provided that it is not contrary to the law,” she added. Malacañang, however, supports Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s call for Bonoan to return the billions of pesos he took in alleged “kickbacks” from DPWH allocables for infrastructure projects. In a statement, Lacson said that those with direct dealings with Bonoan must be “quaking in their boots.” “He certainly has a lot to reveal—from allocables to anomalous flood control and other defective infrastructure projects, including but not limited to the P500 million in exchange for his [confirmation by the] Commission on Appointments as DPWH secretary in November 2022,” he added. The plunder complaint against Bonoan was based on the Ombudsman’s finding that P573 million worth of alleged kickbacks were “systematically delivered” to Estrada, resulting from an “intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations” in the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025. But Lacson stressed that Bonoan must also return public funds lost to the flood control mess. According to the senator, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, in his supplemental affidavit dated Nov. 10, 2025, said that he handled for Bonoan at least P5 billion worth of infrastructure projects yearly from 2023 to 2025, with a 15 percent average “commitment” or kickback. “[Bernardo] added that of this 15 percent average commitment, Bonoan would usually give him 25 percent of the commitment, with the rest of the commitment shared between him and the late DPWH Undersecretary Ma. Catalina Cabral,” Lacson said. /cb