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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
January 19, 2026 | 6:35pm
Former Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan attends the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the flood control controversy on Monday, January 19, 2026.
Senate PRIB / Released
MANILA, Philippines — A day after Manuel Bonoan returned to the Philippines, the former Public Works secretary appeared before the Senate to address allegations of negligence at best and corruption at worst.
After exceeding the prescribed duration of his overseas travel, Bonoan attended the hearing on the multibillion-peso flood control scam of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Monday, January 19, saying he did so to avoid being cited in contempt.
During the hearing, senators confronted Bonoan with accusations made by former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who earlier claimed that Bonoan facilitated budget insertions as part of a kickback scheme within the agency.
Sen. Win Gatchalian said Bernardo's testimony indicated that Bonoan allegedly received as much as P2.25 billion in kickbacks.
Bonoan said 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," Bonoan told the committee.
Senators press accountability. Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Finance committee, said that regardless of whether Bonoan personally received kickbacks, the alleged flood control scam took place during his three-year tenure as DPWH secretary.
The senator said he believed the corruption allegations against Bonoan, citing the scale and recurrence of alleged anomalies.
"How can a secretary let all of this happen? That is why we are all here in this situation," Gatchalian said in Filipino.
Gatchalian noted that the ghost projects were not a one-off occurence. The projects were discovered in Bulacan and Davao Oriental, as well as multiple testimonies implicating Bonoan.
"In my opinion, you're included in this," he told the former DPWH chief.
Other individuals implicated in the alleged flood control scheme also denied Bernardo's claims during the hearing, plainly calling the former DPWH undersecretary a liar.
