THE principal signatory in the anomalous flood control projects may have struck a deal that would exonerate him from the plunder case filed against him — but only after being admitted as state witness.
No less than Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla admitted that Bonoan will turn state witness against individuals linked to the flood control scandal.
“We already have a signed agreement for the cooperation of former Secretary Manuel Bonoan to be a state witness,” Remulla told reporters during a press briefing.
To start with, state prosecutors filed a motion to discharge the case against Bonoan in the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division, where he has been charged with plunder along with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.
The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division earlier allowed Bonoan to be placed under hospital arrest and confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame.
KNOWS SO MUCH
According to the Ombudsman, Bonoan’s testimony has the “institutional knowledge” which could secure conviction of several individuals linked to the so-called trillion-peso corruption scheme.
“The knowledge that he has about the whole institution is something very important to us to be able to prove many cases,” Remulla said.
“We will be benefiting from his testimony with regards to so many of the cases that we are filing,” he added.
Arraignment on Estrada and Bonoan’s plunder case at the Sandiganbayan is scheduled today (June 30). Under existing jurisprudence, plunder is a non-bailable offense.
Bonoan and Estrada have been accused of receiving a staggering P573 million worth of alleged kickbacks via “intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations” within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025.
HOLDING PUNCHES
During the press briefing, reporters sought an update on the criminal cases against Senators Francis Escudero and Joel Villanueva.
Responding to the queries, Remulla, who on May 26 said that criminal charges against Villanueva are “ripe and ready for filing within two weeks, insisted that the complaints against the two senators are still under “preliminary investigation.”
The Ombudsman warded off claims that he is holding punches against the legislators after joining the administration-backed Senate majority bloc led by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.
“I’m not privy to anything of that nature. Mind you, we don’t make deals with anybody with regard to culpability or innocence,” Remulla averred.
“All the deals that we make here will be in open court. If we’ll discharge you [of charges] as [a way to enlist you as] a witness, we’ll have you discharged as a witness. But there are no other deals accepted here.”
DOJ FELL SHORT
Reporters also asked for Remulla’s comment on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recommendation for the filing of charges against Villanueva.
“We did not adopt the DOJ findings because we did not find it sufficient… The result was not satisfactory to us, to our standards,” Remulla stressed.
“It is our choice whether or not to accept the work of the DOJ because we delegate work to them. We have to conduct our own [investigation] in case we have to improve on the cases, to make sure that they’re airtight cases,” he quipped.
