By Tracy Cabrera
DESPITE President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. (PBBM)’s confidence that former public works secretary Manuel’ Manny’ Bonoan will tell the truth in the ongoing Senate investigation on anomalous government infrastructure projects, majority of lawmakers believe that he is equally culpable in the loss of billions of pesos in public funds.
During last Monday’s Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the flood control controversy, Senator Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian told Bonoan that “in (his) opinion, you’re included in this.”
After exceeding the prescribed duration of his overseas travel, the DPWH’s ex-chief returned to the Philippines to appeared before the Senate to address allegations of negligence at best and corruption at worst. He added that he attended the hearing in order to avoid being cited in contempt.
During the proceedings, Bonoan was confronted with accusations made by former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo who earlier claimed that he facilitated budget insertions as part of a kickback scheme within the agency. Bernardo’s testimony indicated that he allegedly received as much as ₱2.25 billion in kickbacks.
Bonoan, however, cited that while he has not read Bernardo’s sworn affidavit, he could deny all allegations: “I completely deny your honor. I don’t have any allocable amount.”
Still, senators pressed accountability with Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Finance committee, stressing that regardless of whether Bonoan personally received kickbacks, the alleged flood control scam took place during his three-year tenure as the agency’s secretary.
The senator said he believed the corruption allegations against Bonoan, citing the scale and recurrence of alleged anomalies even as he asked incredulously “how (. . .) a secretary let all of this happen?” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
Gatchalian further noted that the ghost projects were not a one-off occurence and the projects discovered in Bulacan and Davao Oriental, as well as multiple testimonies, implicated Bonoan.racy Cabrera
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