Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during the Malacanang press briefing on July 16, 2026. Screen grab from RTVM livestream/Facebook.
Malacañang on Monday maintained that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had no involvement in the so-called “leadership fund” allegedly implemented within the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the alleged funding mechanism was not an initiative of the President. She added that its possible existence within the DPWH did not establish that Marcos knew about or authorized it.
Castro said the Palace had consulted the Department of Budget and Management, which found no allocation formally identified as a “leadership fund” in the General Appropriations Act signed by Marcos.
She added that Marcos’ discussions with then-Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan had focused on infrastructure needs in specific areas and the proper implementation of government projects. According to Castro, the President had repeatedly directed the former DPWH chief to ensure the department performed its work properly.
The Palace issued the clarification after Bonoan testified in court about an internal DPWH arrangement that allegedly provided funding allocations for senators’ priority infrastructure projects.
Bonoan claimed senators were allotted at least Php 500 million each under the mechanism during his tenure. He also identified former DPWH operations undersecretary Roberto Bernardo as among the officials involved in transmitting lists of priority projects.
Malacañang also addressed questions on whether Bonoan could eventually serve as a state witness in cases arising from the controversy. Castro said the possibility had not been discussed by the administration.
She said any determination on Bonoan’s potential role as a state witness would be left to prosecutors, the Office of the Ombudsman and the courts handling related cases.