ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Ex-DPWH secretary Bonoan, 10 others charged for 'rigged bidding' of 5 foreign-funded flood control projects

Ex-DPWH secretary Bonoan, 10 others charged for 'rigged bidding' of 5 foreign-funded flood control projects

Published Feb 26, 2026 06:51 pm
Criminal complaints were filed on Thursday, Feb. 26, against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel M. Bonoan and 10 others on the alleged rigged bidding of five foreign-funded flood control projects.
Complainant John J. Chiong of Task Force Kasanag (TFK) asked the Office of the Ombudsman to charge Bonoan and the co-respondents with violations of Sections 3(e) and (g) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; Section 65 of R.A. No. 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act; and R.A. No. 7080, the Anti-Plunder Act.
The other respondents named in the complaints were DPWH Senior Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain, Undersecretary and bids and awards committee (BAC) Chairman Ador G. Canlas, BAC Vice Chairperson and OIC Assistant Secretary Pol M. Delos Santos, BAC Vice Chairperson Alex G. Bote, BAC members and Director of Bureau of Construction Allan S. Borromeo, Director of Design Blesilda S. Ramos, Project Director of UPMO-RMCII Teresita V. Bauzon, Project Director of UPMO-FCMC Ramon A. Arriola III, OIC Director Bureau of Design Lara Marisse I. Esquibil, BAC Provisional Member Gliciridia C. Tumaliuan-ali, as well as private respondent companies Sino Road and Bridge Group Co. Ltd., China International Water & Electric Corp., Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Co. Ltd., and Beijing Urban Construction Group.
"This complaint arises from systematic bid rigging, manipulation of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC), unlawful disqualification of lowest bidders, irregular award of multi-billion infrastructure projects, and solicitation of money," the complaint stated.
Based on the complaints, the five DPWH foreign-funded projects involved are the Malabang Viaduct Marawi City project; Ranao (Agus) River Basin Flood Control Infrastructure - Package 1, Balo-i, Lanao del Norte; and Laguna Lakeshore Road Network (LLRN) -- Packages 1, 2, and 3.
"In this case, there was a series of overt acts across multiple projects involving multi-billion contracts, at least P360 million excessive award in one project alone (Malabang Viaduct)," the complaint said as it pointed out that "there is a pattern of repeated irregular awards."
Chiong alleged that the respondent former and incumbent officials manipulated the bidding process for all the projects, and the Invitation to Bid posted in Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) reflected zero approved budget for the contract (ABC).
He also alleged that Bonoan issued Department Order No. 173 Series of 2024 on Oct. 1, 2024 and removed the ABC ceiling in foreign-funded projects to allow unrestricted bidding and later adjusted the ABC by 15 percent in favor of preferred bidders.
By concealing budget ceilings, Chiong claimed that the respondents showed manifest partiality and evident bad faith to their preferred suppliers.
Chiong also alleged: "In this case, respondents posted zero ABC despite approved budgets, awarded a bid above the ABC, failed to publicly open financial bids, and approved irregular BAC resolutions. These acts defeat transparency and competitiveness and constitute criminal violations under Section 65 of R.A. No. 9184."
Those named in the complaints could not be contacted for comments as of posting time. Manila Bulletin will post their comments once available.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.