Lacson: Those who dealt with Bonoan must be 'quaking in their boots'

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Monday, June 29, said those who had direct dealings with former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan must be “quaking in their boots.”

Lacson, a former chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC), made the remark after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that Bonoan, who is facing a plunder case before the Sandiganbayan over the alleged flood control scam, is set to become a state witness.

READ: Remulla: Ex-DPWH chief Bonoan to be state witness

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Responding to questions from the media, Lacson said, “With this new development, those who had direct dealings with him must be quaking in their boots.”

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“He certainly has a lot to reveal — from allocables to anomalous flood control and other defective infrastructure projects, including but not limited to the P500M (million) in exchange for his CA (Commission on Appointments) confirmation as DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) secretary in November 2022,” he said.

According to Remulla, state prosecutors have already filed a motion before the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan to discharge Bonoan as an accused in the plunder case, in which Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is also a co-accused.

READ: Plunder raps filed vs Estrada, Bonoan, 3 others over ‘insertions’

Remulla said Bonoan’s testimony would be crucial because of his institutional knowledge, which could help implicate several individuals.

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“The knowledge that he has about the whole institution is something very important to us to be able to prove many cases,” he said.

Lacson, however, said Bonoan becoming a state witness should not prevent the government from recovering money allegedly obtained through anomalous flood-control projects.

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“At the very least, the amount must be based on the earlier testimonies by resource persons of the BRC under my watch,” he said.

Lacson recalled that for the budget years 2023, 2024 and 2025, Bonoan had his own annual allocations of P5 billion, of which 15 percent commission was collected by former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

“In turn, Bernardo was getting 15 percent of that 15 percent kickback allocated to Bonoan which was divided between him and the late Undersecretary (Cathy) Cabral — as per Bernardo’s testimony before the BRC,” he said. /das

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