Former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan explained that it was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who asked him to resign from his post a year ago amid public outrage over the flood control corruption scandal.
Bonoan was testifying before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Tuesday in the graft trial of former Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. when Chairperson Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi noted the timing of the ex-secretary’s appearance and asked why he had resigned.
‘Your Honor, I was asked to submit a courtesy resignation,’ Bonoan answered.
Musngi pressed on who had made the request for the then-DPWH chief to leave his post.
‘It was relayed to me, Your Honor,’ Bonoan replied.
Asked by Musngi whether the request had come in the form of a ‘message from the president,’ Bonoan answered in the affirmative.
In August 2025, a month after Marcos launched the government’s anti-corruption drive in infrastructure projects, Bonoan maintained that he would remain at his post, saying to resign would be to ‘turn [his] back to the problem.’
Days later, Malacañang confirmed that Bonoan had resigned from his post, with Marcos explaining that it was due to ‘command responsibility.’
Bonoan was ultimately charged alongside Sen. Jinggoy Estrada over a purported scheme involving P573 million in kickbacks.
‘Nothing wrong with leadership fund’
The former DPWH was called to testify in the Revilla graft case.
Revilla is accused of involvement in a P76.91-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, which state prosecutors claimed to be ‘non-existent.’
Bonoan previously testified in the malversation case against the former senator before the Sandiganbayan Third Division.
The ex-secretary claimed that his department created a ‘leadership fund’ availed by ‘all senators’ in 2024-including Revilla, who then chaired the chamber’s public works committee-in a bid to address budget cuts to the agency.
‘There’s nothing wrong for senators to avail of the leadership fund as long as they are consistent with the core programs of the department. It is actually embedded in the criteria for the selection of projects,’ Bonoan maintained.
‘In fact, all the projects submitted by the proponent senators are vetted and conform with the programs of the department,’ he added.
‘What would be wrong is actually in the implementation of the projects. That’s another area of concern,’ he further said.
He explained that, in implementing the projects between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, the DPWH had supposedly not been given the adequate budget to conduct feasibility studies and preliminary engineering.
Bonoan likewise confirmed that he had met with Revilla on several occasions but only to ‘discuss the status of pending bills pertaining to the DPWH,’ particularly on the declaration of national roads and additional engineering districts.
Further, upon cross-examination by Revilla’s legal counsel, Bonoan said he had no personal knowledge of Revilla’s requested projects since the list had been supplied to him via Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.
At the end of the hearing, the prosecution said it will present 20 more witnesses in the Revilla case, with DPWH Assistant Secretary Alex Bote up next on Sept. 8.