MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is confident former public works and highways secretary Manuel Bonoan will tell “only the truth” in the ongoing probe on the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, Malacañang said yesterday.
“The President believes that former secretary Manny Bonoan will speak only the truth, especially that he is before the Senate and his statements are under oath,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.
Bonoan appeared before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on Monday, a day after arriving from the United States. He denied there was ill-intent in his submission of misleading coordinates of flood control project locations to Malacañang.
Bonoan told the committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, that time constraints led him to submit location-based coordinates under the Multi-Year Programming and Scheduling system used during the planning stage, instead of the more accurate “as-staked” coordinates.
“Having said that, I assured the President that it’s still in the same area. It can’t be in any other area,” the former public works secretary said.
Lacson earlier accused Bonoan of sending incorrect grid coordinates to Malacañang.
Castro said Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, who replaced Bonoan, is verifying alleged ghost flood control projects before making a report to the President.
Asked whether the Palace sees a need to redo the entire scouring of the reported projects, Castro said it is up to the DPWH.
Castro added there was no directive from the President to redo the entire investigation because of the issue on incorrect coordinates.
She said the cases filed are the ones with correct data and facts.
Evidence, not noise
Meanwhile, Manila 6th district Rep. Benny Abante Jr. commended Lacson for affirming the lack of evidence linking former speaker Martin Romualdez to anomalous flood control projects.
“Evidence, not noise, should always lead,” he said in a statement.
“In matters involving public funds and public officials, insinuation is never a substitute for proof,” he added.
Lacson on Monday said testimony presented by two female witnesses during the Blue Ribbon hearing was insufficient to implicate Romualdez in the flood control mess.
Disappointed
For the Senate minority, Monday’s Blue Ribbon hearing was disappointing, with Sen. Rodante Marcoleta saying he was “expecting more.”
Marcoleta and fellow minority Sen. Imee Marcos said the committee failed to dig deeper into the alleged role of Romualdez and wanted fugitive Zaldy Co in ghost and substandard flood control projects.
They also lamented the failure to drill into the alleged role of resigned Department of Education undersecretary Trygve Olaivar in budget insertions, accused by state witness former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo of receiving flood control kickbacks.
Olaivar attended Monday’s hearing to deny Bernardo’s allegations, while Bernardo said he affirmed the contents of his affidavit.
Marcoleta also said the minority released a report last Dec. 10 about the flood control probe when he was Blue Ribbon chair.
In this report, the minority found no strong evidence to implicate Senators Francis Escudero and Jinggoy Estrada and former senator Nancy Binay after Bernardo implicated them in the kickback scheme. — Helen Flores, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Mark Ernest Villeza, Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Bella Cariaso
