Manila: The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed that former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan has been included in the plunder charges in connection with alleged irregularities linked to flood control projects.

According to Philippines News Agency, DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez informed reporters that Bonoan is a respondent in the case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for plunder, among other charges. He is named as a co-respondent alongside Senator Jinggoy Estrada in the same case.

Martinez explained that there is currently no schedule for the preliminary investigation, as the case is yet to be assigned to a panel of handling prosecutors. The complaint for plunder is not confined to a single project or locality. It involves allegations of acquiring ill-gotten wealth exceeding 50 million pesos through a series of transactions related to flood control projects.

Bonoan, who had been abroad for over two months, returned to the country on Sunday. He initially left for the United States via Taiwan on November 11, 2025, to accompany his wife for a medical procedure, with plans to return on December 17, 2025. Bonoan attended the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's inquiry into the anomalous flood control project on Monday.