Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan testified Wednesday that all the senators availed themselves of “leadership fund” insertions in the 2025 national budget, with each lawmaker receiving at least P500 million in allocations while chairpersons of major committees were entitled to as much as P1 billion.

Testifying in the malversation trial of former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, Bonoan said he received a report from the office of the late DPWH Undersecretary Cathy Cabral indicating that all the senators benefited from the arrangement, which was created to ensure funding for their priority projects.

Bonoan said the leadership fund was introduced during budget discussions in 2024 as an “ad hoc allocation” after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) saw substantial cuts to its core programs in the 2023 budget.

“The leadership fund came about because of the numerous cuts from the budget of 2023, when it came out as the General Appropriations Act. To our surprise, many of the core programs of the department were drastically reduced,” Bonoan told the court.

“To avoid the repetition of these cuts being made, we thought it would be better if we included the priority projects of the Senate in the budget of the department,” he said.

Bonoan said there was no formal process for senators to avail themselves of the fund, with their priority projects being communicated instead through DPWH officials.

He testified that former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo personally submitted lists of priority projects for several senators, including Revilla, Bong Go, Jinggoy Estrada and Robin Padilla.

Once submitted, the project lists were forwarded to Cabral’s office for final vetting by the DPWH planning division to determine whether they would be included in the department’s budget.

Bonoan also said he discussed the leadership fund with then Senate President Miguel Zubiri, with the Senate leadership determining the allocation thresholds.

Under the arrangement, each senator was allotted a minimum of P500 million, while chairpersons of major Senate committees were allocated up to P1 billion. Bonoan said Revilla was supposedly provided the higher amount.

He also recalled that some senators thanked the DPWH for assisting them in availing of the leadership fund, specifically naming Revilla and Senator Imee Marcos.

Bonoan later clarified that there was nothing inherently wrong with senators utilizing their leadership funds.

Project insertions via ‘errata’

Aside from the leadership fund, Bonoan testified that projects could also be added to the national budget through an “errata” or correction submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations.

Unlike projects included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the Department of Budget and Management, Bonoan said errata were subject to the discretion of the House appropriations panel for inclusion.

He described errata as corrections to information contained in a project, which could originate from district offices or the project’s identified proponent.

Notably, the P92.8-million alleged ghost flood control project involving Revilla was inserted through an errata, Bonoan said.

His testimony marked the first time Bonoan appeared before the Sandiganbayan as a witness in a case linked to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

Bonoan currently faces separate plunder and graft charges before the anti-graft court’s Second and Fifth Divisions.

Zubiri debunks allegations

Senator Migz Zubiri quickly debunked allegations that the Senate, under his watch, had a whopping P24 billion in “leadership” funds divided among senators, as alleged by Bonoan.

Zubiri was the Senate President of the 19th Congress but resigned on 20 May 2024 after less than two years in office and was replaced by Senator Chiz Escudero.

During his stint, he contended that he “never requested, held, or handled” any requests for infrastructure projects from his colleagues, claiming that any amendments were coursed through the Senate Committee on Finance, which has the sole jurisdiction over the budgetary process.

“I refused to handle any such list. No proposed budget amendments passed through my office. The senators know that,” Zubiri stressed.