Sen. Jinggoy Estrada now stands alone as the accused in a graft count tied to two flood control contracts in Bulacan, after the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division cleared his former co-defendant from the plunder and graft charges linked to the corruption controversy.
That count centers on Estrada, whom prosecutors identified as the lone recipient of P213.7 million in alleged payoffs drawn from the two Bulacan projects handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The court’s decision, reached on a 2-1 vote, effectively opens the door for former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan to serve as a state witness. In granting the motion, the division held that choosing who to turn into a witness rests with the Office of the Ombudsman, describing it as part of the agency’s prosecutorial discretion in pursuing convictions.
Prosecutors confirmed the ruling to reporters on Tuesday, September 2, 2026, saying the Fifth Division had agreed to strike Bonoan’s name from the roster of the accused.
The charges the court set aside were substantial. Bonoan had been facing a single non-bailable plunder count and two graft counts, all stemming from purported kickbacks totaling P573 million on flood control works. What remains against him is one graft charge lodged with the Second Division, on which he has already secured bail.
The warrants that brought both men into custody were issued earlier by the Ombudsman. Named alongside Bonoan and Estrada were former DPWH district engineers Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr., and assistant district engineer Denryl Caesar Cortuna, all tied to the questioned infrastructure contracts.
Estrada turned himself in to authorities on June 1 once the warrant against him was released. He has been held at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas and is serving a 90-day preventive suspension from the Senate. Bonoan, for his part, had been kept under detention at the PNP General Hospital.
