Former DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan. Photo courtesy of PNA/Avito Dalan.
Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan testified that project lists for Sens. Bong Go and Robin Padilla were coursed through former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo under the agency’s so-called leadership fund.
Bonoan made the disclosure before the Sandiganbayan Third Division while appearing as a prosecution witness in the malversation case against former Sen. Bong Revilla.
Revilla is accused of involvement in an allegedly fictitious flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, worth Php 92.8 million. Prosecutors have alleged that the project involved a 25-percent kickback, a claim Revilla has repeatedly denied.
Bonoan has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in cases linked to the flood control controversy, although he remains a co-accused in a separate plunder and graft case involving Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.
During questioning, Associate Justice Karl Miranda referred to Bonoan’s written testimony stating that Revilla and Estrada had also coursed priority projects through Bernardo for inclusion in DPWH’s 2025 leadership fund.
Bonoan told the court that Bernardo was close to both Revilla and Estrada and had handled project requests associated with them.
Asked by Deputy Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal whether Bernardo also handled project lists for other senators, Bonoan identified Go and Padilla. “Usec. Bernardo also submitted the list of projects for the leadership fund of Senator Bong Go, Senator Padilla,” he said.
Bonoan added that senators generally did not personally approach him about project requests, saying these were usually relayed through their staff or DPWH officials. He earlier testified that senators were allotted at least Php 500 million each under the leadership fund, while heads of major Senate committees could receive at least Php 1 billion for priority projects.
