FORMER Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan testified Tuesday before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division that Senator Jinggoy Estrada, through then-Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, requested ₱1 billion in infrastructure projects for inclusion in the 2025 national budget.
The testimony came during proceedings on Estrada’s petition for bail in connection with a ₱573‑million plunder case.
Bonoan explained that the request was submitted in two tranches: an initial ₱500 million recommended by Undersecretary Catalina Cabral for the National Expenditure Program, followed by an additional ₱500 million conveyed by Bernardo, citing Estrada’s position as Senate President Pro Tempore and describing it as part of the Senate leadership fund.
Bonoan further disclosed that the second tranche was explicitly linked to election expenses, though Estrada himself did not run for office in 2025 — he is serving a Senate term won in 2022. It was Estrada’s wife, Precy, who stood as a candidate for a House seat that year as the first nominee of the BFF party‑list. The former DPWH secretary acknowledged that the list of projects did not bear Estrada’s signature and that the senator did not make the additional request directly to him; instead, the proposals were relayed through Bernardo, whom he described as a close personal friend of Estrada with ties dating back to the tenure of his father, former President Joseph Estrada, as Manila mayor.
Of the ₱1 billion sought, only ₱700 million was ultimately approved under the 2025 General Appropriations Act. Bonoan also confirmed that Estrada had endorsed far larger allocations — ₱7.4 billion in infrastructure projects, plus another ₱475 million in conjunction with a House member — both of which were fully funded in the final budget. He noted that the Senate leadership fund is an ad hoc item without formal written guidelines, and when pressed by Estrada’s defense counsel on what confirmed the senator’s involvement, Bonoan stated he had no reason to doubt the link given the long‑standing friendship between Estrada and Bernardo.
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