All senators got share of DPWH ‘leadership fund’ – Former DPWH Sec. Bonoan

Abi Sarabia M., Philippine Canadian Inquirer
August 13, 2026

Photo courtesy: PNA

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan told the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Wednesday, Aug. 12, that every senator received money from what was known within the department as the “leadership fund” for fiscal year 2025. 

Malacañang, however, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had no knowledge of the fund.

Bonoan, testifying as a prosecution witness in an ongoing malversation case, said the fund set aside at least P500 million for each senator, while those chairing major Senate committees could draw as much as P1 billion. 

He said the arrangement traced back to budget negotiations in 2024, after the DPWH’s core programs were significantly slashed in the 2023 General Appropriations Act. To prevent similar cuts going forward, he said the department opted to fold in the Senate’s priority projects when preparing its own budget. 

Around P24 billion in total was set aside for senators under the fund, an amount he said was created exclusively for members of the Senate. 

He added that the final amount each senator got was left to the discretion of then-Senate President Miguel Zubiri.

Bonoan said project lists submitted under the fund were typically coursed through a DPWH undersecretary rather than filed directly by senators themselves. 

Under cross-examination, the defense raised an earlier allegation from a separate plunder case suggesting Bonoan was involved in a kickback scheme tied to DPWH projects. Bonoan declined to answer, invoking his right to remain silent.

The malversation case at the center of Wednesday’s hearing involves an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, which Bonoan said was slipped into the budget through an errata. 

The hearing marked Bonoan’s first appearance as a witness in a Sandiganbayan case connected to the wider flood-control corruption controversy. Bonoan himself faces separate plunder and graft charges before the same court’s Second and Fifth Divisions.

Meanwhile, reacting to Bonoan’s testimony, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Marcos would never condone such irregularities on the part of an official or Cabinet member, adding that it was Marcos himself who first ordered an investigation into anomalous government projects, including those involving flood control.

“Kung alam ng Pangulo iyan, hindi niya iyan ito-tolerate at hindi iyan mangyayari. Pero, mga ganito kasing usapan, minsan lihim,” Castro said. 

[“If the President knew about that, he would not tolerate it and it would not happen. But conversations like this are sometimes kept secret.”]

Castro added that there is nothing wrong with an official having a government project attached to their name – the concern arises only when such projects involve anomalies or kickbacks.