Bonoan: Estrada sought for P1-B leadership fund in 2025 budget

Senator Jinggoy Estrada allegedly requested for the inclusion of infrastructure projects amounting to P1-billion in the 2025 budget through the use of his Senate leadership fund, former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said.

Bonoan made the claim during his appearance before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division as he took the witness stand in the bail hearing for Estrada’s plunder case over his alleged receipt of P573-million in infrastructure kickbacks.

He would note, however, during the proceedings that it was not the senator himself that had asked for the projects to be inserted, rather the requests were made through former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

The former public works chief said that Bernardo had been the individual that always communicated the requests of Estrada, noting that the undersecretary was a close friend of the Estrada Family.

Backing his claim, Bonoan explained that Bernardo had served as the District Engineer of Manila during the time that former President Joseph Estrada was the city’s mayor.

“I do not have any reason to doubt because Bernardo and the good senator are very close friends…I know that they are very close,” the witness said.

Bonoan also stated that when the late DPWH undersecretary Cathy Cabral reduced the approved leadership fund amount for Estrada to P500 million, Bernardo approached Cabral to include another P500 million with the same list of projects.

Bernardo had reportedly stated that the amount was meant to serve as an assistance for election expenses in the following year.

Estrada, who was present in the hearing through videoconferencing, sought to clarify before the court that he was not a re-electionist in 2025 but was told by the court’s chairperson Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses that he could not make manifestations as he was not yet a witness.

It was later disclosed in the proceedings that of the P1-billion amount that was requested under leadership funds, only P750 million was reflected in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

Congressional initiatives and leadership funds

Aside from the projects inserted through Estrada’s leadership fund, it was also disclosed during the hearing that Estrada had a P7.4 billion “congressional initiative” amended into the national budget.

Congressional initiatives were described as the changes that lawmakers would make to the National Expenditure Program, exercising the power of the purse of Congress.

With the annual changes that Congress made to the budget proposal of the DPWH, Bonoan said that he had conceptualized the leadership fund to ensure that lawmakers were able to fund their priority projects without “meddling” into their proposed allocations.

He stated that the Department of Budget and Management was aware of the arrangement that he had formulated with lawmakers, but mentioned that he was uncertain if President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was also informed.

The counsel of former DPWH official Arturo Gonzales Jr., one of the accused in the case, questioned the setup, pointing out that Marcos could have just exercised his veto power to retract the changes of Congress.

Bonoan, however, maintained belief that there was “no other way” to amend the budget once Congress approved its version of the General Appropriations Bill.

The leadership funds were allegedly mainly discussed with the Senate, particularly to then Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, who welcomed and agreed on the allocation for senators.

Bonoan stated in a previous hearing that each senator was granted a P500 million amount for infrastructure projects, with the Senate Committee chairperson receiving as high as P1 billion.

It is worth noting that Bonoan was previously a co-accused in the plunder case against Estrada and officials from the DPWH but was later discharged after prosecutors motioned for his exclusion.

The Office of the Ombudsman had expressed interest in utilizing the insider information that Bonoan had in its prosecution of cases linked to the multibillion peso flood control scandal.

Estrada’s bail hearing is set to resume on Wednesday, 28 October, with Bernardo set to take the witness stand.