Five officials, including a sitting senator and a former public works chief, are now subject to arrest after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division acted Monday on a plunder and graft complaint that carries no option for bail.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is named alongside Manuel Bonoan, who previously led the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), in the order. Three former DPWH engineering personnel from the National Capital Region were also covered: assistant district engineer Denryl Caesar Cortuna, along with district engineers Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales, Jr.
The accusations against Estrada center on roughly P573 million he allegedly pocketed through a scheme that tampered with how 2025 flood control funds were distributed. The Ombudsman lodged that case before the anti-graft court within the past week. Estrada has rejected every allegation.
Whether the Fifth Division’s warrant takes effect remains unsettled. The court’s clerk of court office indicated that Estrada’s legal team submitted its request before the panel had even decided whether grounds for an arrest existed. That request—an urgent motion to withdraw issuance of the warrant—was lodged by Estrada’s counsel, Noel Ostrea, in both the Second and Fifth divisions.
The timing played out differently one division over. Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, who chairs the Second Division, explained to reporters that her panel’s warrant had already gone out by the time Estrada’s side moved to block it. As a result, that earlier order stood.
That Second Division warrant, issued Friday, stemmed from a separate graft matter that does permit bail. Estrada and Bonoan each put up P90,000 and avoided detention.
The distinction matters because of what plunder entails under Philippine law. A conviction brings life imprisonment, and the offense is not ordinarily bailable—release is possible only when a court concludes the prosecution’s evidence falls short of being strong.
