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Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan testified before the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Aug. 12 that every sitting senator received money from what DPWH insiders called a "leadership fund" — an allocation Bonoan said totaled roughly ₱24 billion a year, with each senator entitled to at least ₱500 million and committee chairpersons up to ₱1 billion, according to GMA News Online and the Daily Tribune. The testimony, given while Bonoan was on the stand in former senator Bong Revilla's ₱92.8-million flood-control malversation case, has since been denied by three successive Senate presidents named in connection with the fund.
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According to GMA News Online's report, citing Super Radyo dzBB reporter Allan Gatus, Bonoan said the fund was allocated by DPWH for senators who submitted lists of preferred infrastructure projects, with the overall ceiling set at ₱24 billion annually "with the discretion" of the sitting Senate president. He said then-DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo had asked Revilla and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada — both now facing separate graft and plunder charges tied to the flood-control corruption scandal — to submit project lists, and separately claimed Sens. Bong Go and Robin Padilla did the same, while Sens. Padilla and Imee Marcos had thanked him for his "assistance."
Government tracking of DPWH's internal accounting, cited across multiple outlets including Politiko and the Manila Times, shows the fund's availment climbed from ₱13.29 billion in fiscal year 2024 to roughly ₱21 billion in fiscal year 2025 — nearly exhausting the ₱24-billion annual ceiling under then-Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero. Bonoan separately told the court, per GMA News Online, that the arrangement traced back to 2024 budget negotiations, after DPWH's core programs were significantly cut in the 2023 General Appropriations Act; the department said it began folding in senators' priority projects to pre-empt further cuts. The fund does not appear in the 2026 national budget, according to GMA's reporting — meaning the 2025 GAA was the last spending plan to carry it.
The allegation has drawn denials from every current and former Senate leader named. Former Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said in a statement reported by GMA News Online and the Daily Tribune that he "never requested, held, or handled any list of project requests from senators," saying all budget requests were "coursed through the Senate Committee on Finance." Zubiri added he saw "nothing wrong" with institutional budget amendments for infrastructure as long as they were transparent, free of contractor interference, and not tied to ghost or substandard projects. Sen. Bong Go, in a Senate plenary manifestation, said he never submitted any project list to Undersecretary Bernardo and suggested Bonoan — the accused's own former colleague — should focus on his defense rather than "dragging our work as legislators into their mess." Current Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian told reporters on Aug. 15, as reported by Manila Bulletin, "I have been in the Senate for 10 years and I have never heard of this leadership fund, and it was never offered to me either by the DPWH or anyone from the Senate," adding he first heard the term from a privilege speech by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Malacañang has also distanced President Marcos from the claims. Asked about Bonoan's testimony, Marcos told reporters, per a press conference cited by GMA News Online, "Parati naman akong nagpapasalamat sa lahat ng department kung mayroon silang gagawin sa Ilocos Norte. Kababayan ko si Secretary Bonoan. Hindi ko alam kung anong pasasalamat ang tinutukoy diyan" (I always express gratitude to any department doing projects in Ilocos Norte. Secretary Bonoan is my provincemate. I don't know what specific expression of thanks is being referred to). Separately, Bonoan has claimed the fund was formed after Marcos himself grew alarmed over budget "insertions," according to a subsequent GMA News Online report — a claim the Palace has not directly addressed.
GMA News Online reported it reached out to the other senators named for comment but had not received responses as of its Aug. 12 posting time. Pulpulitiko was unable to independently obtain comment from Escudero, Padilla, Go, or Imee Marcos before publication.
Context
Bonoan's testimony is emerging inside the broader flood-control corruption prosecution that has already produced plunder and graft charges against Estrada, Revilla, and DPWH officials over an alleged kickback scheme. The Sandiganbayan on Aug. 3 denied a bid to exclude Bonoan himself from graft charges tied to the same scandal, though the court noted that ruling does not prejudge his potential value as a state witness. If accurate, the "leadership fund" allegations would mark one of the first instances of an official directly implicating the Senate's own budget-insertion practices — as opposed to the House-side "pork barrel" allocations that have dominated flood-control corruption coverage to date — raising the question of whether COA or the Ombudsman will open a formal inquiry into the fund's disbursement records.
Sources
- Ex-DPWH chief Bonoan claims senators received 'leadership fund' up to ₱1B each — GMA News Online
- Bonoan: All senators got 'leadership funds' — Daily Tribune
- Senate burned through P21B of DPWH's P24-B 'Leadership Fund' under Escudero — Politiko
- 'Never heard': Gatchalian denies knowledge of alleged P24-B Senate 'leadership fund' — Manila Bulletin
- Sandiganbayan junks bid to exclude Bonoan from graft cases — Manila Times
- Bonoan: Senate leadership fund formed after Marcos alarmed over 'insertions' — GMA News Online