ICI wants Bonoan, two others probed over liability on flood control projects

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has called on the Ombudsman to probe former secretary Manuel Bonoan and undersecretaries Roberto Bernardo and Maria Catalina Cabral of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for possible breach of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials over a P69.4 million ghost project in Plaridel, Bulacan. 

ICI chairperson Andres Reyes, Jr. identified the project as the Riverbank Protection Structure in Barangay Bagong Silang (Purok 4), Plaridel, Bulacan which was earlier flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) for being constructed in a mismatched project site which falls short of the approved specifications. 

The P69.4 million project, built by TopnotchCatalyst Builders, Inc., also does not have supportive documents for validation.

"The Commission has recommended that the Ombudsman assess whether there is potential violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials and employees may also exist on the part of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, former Undersecretaries Roberto Bernardo and Maria Catalina Cabral, among others," Reyes said. 

"Public office is a public trust. Public office means a sacrifice for the betterment of the Philippine people and not to make your life better at the expense of the people," Reyes added ahead of the ICI’s submission of its interim report on the Plaridel project on Tuesday.

The ICI interim report – which was submitted to the Ombudsman on Tuesday – stated that Bonoan, as DPWH chief, broke public trust.

“Clearly, public trust was reposed on Secretary Bonoan to exercise control of DPWH as its Secretary. The above-described scheme perpetrated by senior DPWH employees was made possible because Secretary Bonoan betrayed such trust reposed on him,” the ICI report read.

“He miserably failed to exercise simple diligence tantamount to fraud in ensuring the judicious use of public funds entrusted to DPWH. As clearly shown by the DPWH documents cited herein, the plunder of public funds happened right under his nose. Were it not for the President’s – Ferdinand Marcos. Jr. – 2025 SONA, Secretary Bonoan’s inexcusable negligence tantamount to fraud would have resulted in further plunder of public funds,” it added.

“In so far as former Undersecretaries Bernardo and Cabral are concerned, their duties and responsibilities pertaining to Operations and Planning, respectively, made them intimately in the know of the activities of senior DPWH officials and responsible for the overall economical, efficient and effective administration of public funds entrusted to DPWH,” the ICI report said.

In addition, the ICI urged the Ombudsman to evaluate whether charges may be filed against Engineer Henry Alcantara, Engineer Brice Erickson Hernandez, among others, for malversation, violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Government Procurement Reform Act.

“The findings from the physical inspection of the site identified in the approved bid plans and contract, and the evident absence of the completed works therein, already indicate possible violations of applicable laws and necessitate the immediate initiation of appropriate actions to ensure accountability. However, the Commission finds that the implementation of the scheme involving ghost projects could not have been carried out without the participation or gross inexcusable negligence of certain public officials and private individuals in securing the necessary funding, facilitating the award of the project, and complying with the required post-audit requirements,” the ICI’s interim report pointed out.

“Accordingly, the Commission recommends that the Honorable Ombudsman conduct further investigation on the incidents which transpired before and after contract implementation,” the ICI added.

COA earlier said that the Plaridel project has been fully paid but does not exist.

Bonoan and Cabral have resigned from their respective posts.

In accepting Bonoan's resignation, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the former DPWH chief took responsibility for all the issues hounding the flood control projects.

Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, for his part, earlier admitted that he was complicit in anomalies in certain flood control projects.

Prosecution process 

In the same press conference, Remulla said the prosecution of the flood control cases should not be difficult because at least two things are clear: the projects are ghost or non-existent, and public funds were stolen.

“Actually, may madaling i-prosecute dito. Actually, hindi naman mahirap po. Parang pareho lang eh. Kasi yung PDAF cases are ghost projects din ‘yan eh. They went to NGOs, supposedly with beneficiaries who were fake beneficiaries,” Remulla said.

(There are cases that are easy to nail here…I would say it should not be difficult to prosecute because these are like the PDAF cases, these are ghost projects. They went to NGOs, supposedly with beneficiaries who were fake beneficiaries.)

The Ombudsman was referring to the P10 billion Priority Development Assistance Fund scam in 2012, in which the discretionary fund of lawmakers for their respective constituents were funneled to fake non-government entities owned by businesswoman Janet Napoles. 

“Nawala yung pera, where it went, it was never explained. Pwede ba mawala ang pera ng ganun-ganun lang kung walang kukuha. ‘Yun lang naman ang tanong dito, di ba? And I think the narrations of the DPWH people, Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, are more or less complete and very vivid,” Remulla said.

(The money was lost, where it went, it was never explained. Can money be lost that easy if no one would pocket it? That’s the question here. And I think the narrations of the DPWH people, Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, are more or less complete and very vivid.)

“We saw the pictures on the table, the money on the table on the pictures. ‘Yun ba, nawawala na lang ng parang bula yun, parang walang managot. Yun lang naman yun, e,” he added.

(We even saw the pictures of money on the table [for kickbacks]. Can money disappear inot thin air without anyone being held accountable? That is what we need to do here.) — AOL/JMA, GMA Integrated News