Metro Manila, Philippines – Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday, June 29, said Manny Bonoan, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary, will turn state witness in the flood control scandal.
He said that the office had a standing agreement with Bonoan and that the ombudsman filed a motion to discharge him as an accused so that he can be a witness for the prosecution.
Bonoan was a co-accused of Senator Jinggoy Estrada and other public works officials for plunder and graft charges over alleged illegal budget insertions in the DPWH infrastructure projects.
“The knowledge that he has about the whole institution is something very important to us to be able to prove many cases,” Remulla told the media at a press briefing.
“We will be benefiting from his testimony with regards to so many of the cases that we have filed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Remulla said his office will also seek preliminary investigations on Sen. Joel Villanueva and eight other House of Representatives members whom he did not name.
He shared that a case against Sen. Chiz Escudero was in the works and would be filed in the next few weeks.
“Malapit na. Isa yan sa inaayos namin na kasabay ibang kasong plunder na aming ipa file within the next few days, within the next few weeks, maybe to take two to three weeks more for us to file cases in the courts for preliminary investigations,” he said.
[Translation: It’s almost ready. It’s one of the things we’re working on alongside other plunder cases that we’ll file in the next few days, within the next few weeks.]
Some of the accused in the flood control scam had tagged Villanueva and Escudero as recipients of kickbacks from contractors.
