Bonoan among respondents in plunder raps over flood control mess

By Benjamin Pulta, Philippine News Agency

Former Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan at the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on Monday (Jan. 19, 2026) (Photo: PNA/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday confirmed that former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan has been included in the plunder charges in connection with alleged irregularities linked to flood control projects.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez, in a message to reporters, said Bonoan “is a respondent in the case filed by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) for plunder, among other charges.”

“He is a co-respondent of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in the same case,” Martinez said.

Martinez said there is no schedule for the preliminary investigation yet, as the case will be assigned to a panel of handling prosecutors.

“The complaint for plunder is not localized to a single project or locality. It encompasses allegations of acquisition of ill-gotten wealth of more than 50 million pesos through a combination and/or series of several transactions,” he said.

“Lahat po yan (All of these) arising from flood control projects and the transactions included in and related to these projects,” he added.

After more than two months abroad, Bonoan returned to the country Sunday.

Bonoan left for the United States via Taiwan on Nov. 11, 2025 to accompany his wife, who underwent a medical procedure. He was supposed to return on Dec. 17, 2025.

Bonoan attended the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry into the anomalous flood control project on Monday.