Sandiganbayan allows hospital arrest for Bonoan

The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division has allowed former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan to be confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame.

The 80-year-old Bonoan is facing a non-bailable crime of plunder before the anti-graft court for allegedly conniving to collect some P573-M in flood control projects kickbacks.

He is currently confined at the Medical City, according to his lawyers, due to an angiogram procedure, and had previously asked the court to allow him to stay there.

According to his personal physicians, Dr. Larry Acuna and Kirt Areis Delovina, Bonoan also has multiple ailments, such as:

• diabetes mellitus
• pain in the spine
• hypertension
• goutyarthritis
• dyslipidemia
• prostate cancer s/p robotic prostatectomy (monitoring of metastatic lesions)
• hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
• chronic kidney disease stage 4
• electrolyte imbalance
• severe coronary artery disease with stenosis
• probable thrombus formation in his coronary arteries and
• left atrial and ventricular enlargement (heart enlargement) with decreased ejection fraction (EF 23%)

In a resolution, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division said Bonoan’s illnesses are backed by medical certifications and records detailing his delicate and immunocompromised state ‘which cannot be properly treated or managed within the regular jail facilities or nearby government hospitals.’

“Accused Bonoan is allowed to be confined at the PNP (Philippine National Police) General Hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City,” the anti-graft court said.

The PNP General Hospital’s attending physician is directed to submit an independent medical evaluation of Bonoan.

“Pending the results of said independent examination, accused Bonoan shall remain under strict hospital arrest where he shall always remain under the effective control and custody of the Philippine National Police - Crime Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG),” the court said.

If Bonoan needs to be continuously confined, the PNP is directed to provide a bi-weekly medical progress report until he is well enough to be transferred to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, Quezon City.

“As soon as the attending physician determines that it is safe to discharge accused Bonoan, the PNP-CIDG shall transfer him to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, Quezon City upon orders from the court,” the court said.

In a message to reporters, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla acknowledged the decision of the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division.

“It is a temporary measure given by the Sandigan. A formal medical diagnosis will be forwarded to the Sandiganbayan. We will receive the full report Monday,” Remulla said.

“He had two procedures this week to treat his heart attack. [Former secretary] Bonoan is not in the best of health. The department accedes to the wisdom of the courts,” he added.

Government prosecutors opposed Bonoan’s motion for hospital arrest, citing that he was able to recently endure a 14 to 16 hour flight to and from the United States and even personally attend a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing.

Likewise, Ombudsman prosecutors said Bonoan actively served as the DPWH secretary from 2022 to 2025 even in his advanced age.

“Since his illnesses did not stop him from discharging major official duties, the prosecution argues that accused Bonoan can withstand preventive detention. Accused Bonoan's assertion that nearby government medical facilities lack specialized equipment is purely speculative because he failed to name any specific hospital or provide evidence that indeed lack the specialized equipment and treatment he requires,” the prosecution said.

Likewise, the prosecution questioned the authenticity of Bonoan’s medical certificates saying these are unauthenticated photographs rather than original or photocopy.

Enrile precedent

The anti-graft court, however, said that humanitarian reasons override the severity of the crime as provided in previous Supreme Court decisions, including the 2015 ruling that granted then former senator and 91-year-old Juan Ponce Enrile’s petition for bail based on humanitarian grounds.

At that time, Enrile was facing a P172 million plunder and 11 counts of graft charges against him in connection with alleged misuse of his discretionary Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). He was eventually acquitted of all of these charges in October 2025, just a month before his death in November 2025 at 101 years old.

“From the foregoing, if the Supreme Court found it legally permissible to grant full provisional liberty to an elderly/ill accused on humanitarian grounds, it stands to reason that the same logic can justify the grant of the less restrictive alternative but highly monitored arrangement of hospital arrest,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“In here, accused Bonoan has established that his detention in a regular jail facility would pose a real, imminent and irreparable danger to his life,” the anti-graft court added.

Further, the court said that while the medical certificates submitted by the defense are unauthenticated photographs of medical certificates, the court cannot ignore the medical findings on Bonoan.

“To avoid accused's detention from becoming a threat to his life and health, while also considering the gravity of the charges and the state's interest in prosecuting the cases against him, a strictly guarded hospital arrest provides a more balanced option,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“Accused Bonoan is still a detention prisoner prior to conviction. Thus, he enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence. While his charge is non-bailable, his detention is strictly preventive to prevent flight, not punitive,” it added.

Lastly, the Sandiganbayan said Bonoan’s voluntary return to the country in January 2026 to cooperate with the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation, as well as submission to the court's jurisdiction when the warrants of arrest was issued in these cases, “reflect the accused's respect for the legal processes and willingness to face the charges against him.”

During the hearing on the separate graft case in relation with flood control mess filed against Bonoan and his co-accused Senator Jinggoy Estrada before the Second Division last Thursday, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg was caught suprised with the long list of Bonoan's ailments.

"Bakit ang dami na?" Econg said during the deliberations on the motion to quash filed by Bonoan.

In a message to reporters, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla acknowledged the decision of the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division.

“It is a temporary measure given by the Sandigan. A formal medical diagnosis will be forwarded to the Sandiganbayan. We will receive the full report Monday,” Remulla said.

“He had two procedures this week to treat his heart attack. [Former secretary] Bonoan is not in the best of health. The department accedes to the wisdom of the courts,” he added. —with reports from Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA News