Metro Manila, Philippines – Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who is facing a non-bailable plunder case over the flood control corruption scandal, will be placed under hospital arrest, the Sandiganbayan ruled.
The court permitted the former public works chief to be detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) in Camp Crame, effectively denying his request to be brought to a private hospital in Pasig City.
In a ruling dated Thursday, June 4, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division partially granted Bonoan’s motion to be detained at PNPGH while his cases are pending due to his health condition.
Bonoan, 80, is facing multiple illnesses including chronic renal disease, hypertension, diabetes, and prostate cancer, among others, according to a medical certificate cited in his motion for hospital arrest.
“Even if the court has the duty to guarantee that the accused face the charges against him, we cannot turn a blind eye to humanitarian exigencies that present a clear and present danger to his life,” the ruling read.
The Sandiganbayan added that Bonoan’s detention in a regular facility “risks jeopardizing his health and life even before justice is served” due to his health condition.
Bonoan’s co-accused–including Sen. Jinggoy Estrada–are currently detained in the New Quezon City Jail, the primary facility holding individuals implicated in the flood control scam.
The court also noted the former Cabinet member’s surrender when the warrant of arrest against him was issued, which they said reflected his willingness to face the charges.
The Sandiganbayan directed the PNPGH to submit an independent medical evaluation report to verify the clinical findings submitted by Bonoan’s camp. It added that he may be transferred to the regular detention facility when a government physician determines it is safe to discharge him from the hospital.
Bonoan’s plunder and graft cases stem from his alleged involvement in what the Ombudsman called “an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio” in 2025.
He stepped down from office in September last year, over a month after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a probe into flood control projects.
