Prosecutors: No prejudice in move to drop Bonoan from raps

MANILA, Philippines — State prosecutors on Wednesday maintained that their motion to file an amended information to discharge former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan from the plunder and graft cases against him would not prejudice his co-accused.

“It is our position that it is just a textual change,” Assistant State Prosecutor III Reza Casila-Derayunan said while speaking briefly to reporters after an hour-long clarificatory hearing on the motion before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division in Quezon City on Wednesday, July 15.

“It’s not a substantial amendment but merely describes the mechanism of an act already charged in the original information,” she added. “It does not prejudice the others.”

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Move to drop Bonoan from graft, plunder raps submitted for resolution

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

Bonoan’s co-accused are Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and DPWH officials Denryl Caesar Sanchez Cortuna, Manny Bumagat Bulusan, and Arturo Lombres Gonzales Jr.

Estrada’s counsel, Atty. Laurence Hector Arroyo, opposed the state prosecutors’ motion, saying it would prejudice the senator.

“Our expectation is that Secretary Bonoan will be denying the charge in this case,” Arroyo said. “We’ll be deprived of that defense.”

READ: Estrada opposes bid to drop Bonoan from graft case to be state witness

Article continues after this advertisement

Cortuna’s counsel, Atty. Eldrige Aceron, likewise argued that amending the information to exclude Bonoan from the case would prejudice his client.

“Cortuna’s defense is that there was no unity of purpose between his level of implementation and that of other officials at the national level,” Aceron said.

Article continues after this advertisement

“When they changed the text of the information from ‘Estrada and Bonoan’ to ‘Estrada and/or/through Bonoan,’ there is now prejudice,” he added.

Nonetheless, Fifth Division Chairperson Hon. Zaldy Trespeses said the state prosecutors’ motion is now deemed submitted for resolution following the clarificatory hearing.

Trespeses added that the court hoped to resolve the matter before the July 28 arraignment of Estrada and Bonoan.

While the senator and the former DPWH chief have yet to be arraigned, their three co-accused already entered not guilty pleas in June.

Bonoan, Estrada, and their three co-accused are facing graft and plunder charges over alleged illegal budget insertions and project allocations totaling P573 million in the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

However, the Office of the Ombudsman earlier said it sought to discharge Bonoan and turn him into a state witness to help prove other cases related to the flood control corruption scandal. /mcm