Ombudsman to enlist ex-DPWH chief Bonoan as state witness in flood control projects cases

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla will ask the Sandiganbayan to discharge former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan from the cases he's facing in connection with the alleged P573 million in kickbacks from flood control projects.

Bonoan is facing a P573 million plunder charge and is a co-accused of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, former DPWH NCR Assistant District Engineer Denryl Caesar Sanchez Cortuna, DPWH NCR District Engineer Manny Bumagat Bulusan, and DPWH NCR District Engineer Arturo Lombres Gonzales Jr.

The non-bailable plunder case is pending before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division over the alleged collection of kickbacks from government flood control projects.

Bonoan is also Estrada’s co-accused in two counts of graft.

“We already have a side agreement for the cooperation of former Secretary Manuel Bonoan to be a state witness, to be a cooperating witness,” Remulla said in a press conference.

“We will ask the court to discharge him as a respondent so he can testify for us as a state witness,” he added.

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, earlier in June, allowed Bonoan to be placed under hospital arrest and confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame.

The arraignment of the case has been set for Tuesday, June 30.

Remulla then said that Bonoan’s testimony is “very important” in the Ombudsman’s case buildup against the perpetrators of the flood-control mess.

“The knowledge that he has about the whole institution is something very important to us to be able to prove many cases,” Remulla said.

“We will be benefiting from his testimony with regard to many of the cases that we are filing,” he added.

'Deals will be in court'

Remulla also said that complaints against Senator Joel Villanueva and Senator Francis Escudero are still under preliminary investigation.

He said on May 26 that criminal charges against Villanueva in connection with his alleged involvement in the flood control mess are already ripe for filing within two weeks.

Remulla belied claims that the Ombudsman is holding its punches when it comes to Villanueva and Escudero, just because the two senators already jumped ship to the Senate majority bloc led by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.

“I’m not privy to anything of that nature. Mind you, we don't make deals with anybody with regard to culpability or innocence,” Remulla said.

“All the deals that we make here will be in open court. If we'll discharge you [of charges] as [a way to enlist you as] a witness, we'll have you discharged as a witness. But there are no other deals accepted here,” he added.

On the Department of Justice's (DOJ) recommendation for the filing of charges against Villanueva, Remulla said that the Ombudsman is not obligated to agree with the DOJ's findings.

“We did not adopt the DOJ findings because we did not find it sufficient... The result was not satisfactory to us, to our standards,” Remulla said.

“It is our choice whether or not to accept the work of the DOJ because we delegate work to them. We have to conduct our own [investigation] in case we have to improve on the cases, to make sure that they're airtight cases," he added.

'Intricate mechanism'

According to the Ombudsman, the plunder and graft cases stemmed "from an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025."

"Our evaluation shows that substantial public funds were deliberately funneled into designated infrastructure projects in exchange for predetermined commission fees or kickbacks,” Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said when the Ombudsman filed the cases on May 28.

The Ombudsman initially dropped former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former NCR director Gerard Opulencia, and former DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineer Henry Alcantara from the list of respondents in the plunder and graft charges as recommended by the Justice Department, since they were already listed as state witnesses.

The late DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral was also not included in the charge sheet.

“Our case is built on solid, immovable evidence. These state witnesses have provided comprehensive, cross-corroborated, sworn statements that map out the execution of this scheme from its inception down to the logistics of the illicit payouts,” Clavano said.

Hospital arrest

Bonoan, after his arrest, was 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. –NB, GMA News