Amid precautionary HDO, Bonoan needs Manila court’s OK before flying to US – BI

Should former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan wish to return to the United States, he should first get the permission of the Manila court that issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against him and others implicated in the flood control mess, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday.

BI spokesperson Dana Mengote-Sandoval explained that the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) previously issued against Bonoan is different from the PHDO that was recently issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 52.

“This one is different kasi sa lookout bulletin po, lookout lamang, monitoring lamang ng kanyang travel. Technically, maaari po siyang lumabas at pumasok ng bansa nang wala pong hadlang,” Mengote-Sandoval said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. 

(This one is different from the lookout bulletin because that one was just for the lookout or monitoring of his travel. Technically, he could still leave and enter the country without any hindrances.) 

“But with this one po, sinasabi ng korte na hindi talaga pinapayagan na umalis siya. Kung ninanais niya po na lumabas ng bansa, maaari po siyang humingi ng permiso sa korte na naglagay sa kanya sa hold departure order,” she added. 

(But with this one, the court said he is really not allowed to leave. If he wants to leave the country, he can ask for permission from the court that placed him on hold departure order.)

When Bonoan filed his counter-affidavit on the plunder complaint against him at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday, he affirmed that he was planning to leave for the United States and that he does not yet know when he will leave.

Mengote-Sandoval clarified that when it comes to PHDOs, the petitioner has to get approval from the court itself.

“Bago po ‘yan payagan, explicitly po naglalabas ng order ang korte para sabihin na binibigyan sila ng allowed departure order para temporarily they would be allowed to leave due to important reasons, pero their names will remain in the hold departure order,” she explained.

(Before they are allowed to leave, the court explicitly issues an order saying that they are given a departure order so they could temporarily be allowed to leave due to important reasons, but their names will remain in the hold departure order.) 

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It may be recalled that Bonoan flew to and stayed in the US for some time at the height of the flood control controversy. In January, he appealed to stay there for another month, saying his wife has eye problems.

The former secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) returned to the Philippines later that month. 

Aside from Bonoan, the Manila court also ordered the issuance of PHDOs against former DPWH undersecretaries Maria Catalina Cabral and Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH regional director Gerard Opulencia, and former district engineer Henry Alcantara.

Cabral died after an alleged fall along Kennon Road in December 2025. Bernardo, Alcantara, and Opulencia, meanwhile, are already considered as state witnesses in the government’s investigation in the flood control scheme. — JMA, GMA Integrated News