Former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan testified before the Sandiganbayan on Wednesday that former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. submitted a list of priority infrastructure projects through former Public Works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo for potential financing under the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) “leadership funds.”
Testifying during cross-examination in the ongoing malversation case against Revilla and former officials of the Bulacan First District Engineering Office, Bonoan explained that the “leadership funds” served as an ad hoc allocation for senators to finance priority infrastructure projects within the national budget. He noted that he coordinated with former Senate President Migz Zubiri in 2024 to establish the funding mechanism, adding that the Senate president ultimately determined how much in leadership funds would be allocated to each senator.
Bonoan said committee chairpersons were generally allotted around P1 billion each, while senators without committee chairmanships received around P5 million. However, Revilla, who chaired the Senate committee on public works, was allocated P5 billion under the program. Bonoan added that the proposed projects were always “subject to verification before they could be funded” and disclosed that three other senators, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go and Robin Padilla, also submitted lists of priority infrastructure projects through Bernardo in 2025.
The malversation case against Revilla centers on an alleged P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, which investigators later discovered to be nonexistent.