The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) on Thursday, May 28, filed plunder and graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against Senator Jose “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito Estrada and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan over alleged illegal budget insertions and more than P573 million in alleged illicit payouts linked to infrastructure and flood control projects under the DPWH’s Fiscal Year 2025 portfolio.

Estrada and Bonoan are facing two counts of graft, with one case raffled to the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division and another graft case raffled to the Fifth Division.

The plunder case against all the respondents was likewise raffled to the Fifth Division.

Several DPWH engineering officials were also included in the charge sheet filed by Ombudsman personnel led by Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano at around 2 p.m., along with pieces of evidence.

During a press briefing, Clavano said the filing came after the OMB approved a review resolution stemming from the investigation conducted by the NBI-DOJ Public Works and Bid-Rigging Task Force.

“Today, the Office of the Ombudsman has approved a Review Resolution has caused the immediate filing of criminal sets of Information before the Sandiganbayan against Senator Jose ‘Jinggoy’ P. Ejercito Estrada, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan, and several local DPWH engineering officials,” Clavano said.

“Following a rigorous and independent evaluation of the investigation forwarded to us by the NBI-DOJ Public Works and Bid-Rigging Task Force, our office found probable cause to indict the principal respondents for Plunder (Republic Act No. 7080) and violations of 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019),” he went on.

Per Clavano, those charged alongside Estrada and Bonoan were Assistant District Engineer Denryl Caesar S. Cortuna, and District Engineers Manny B. Bulusan and Arturo L. Gonzales Jr.

The OMB said the cases stemmed from an alleged scheme involving illegal budget insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for Fiscal Year 2025.

“The cases stem from an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for Fiscal Year 2025,” said Clavano.

“Our evaluation shows that substantial public funds were deliberately funneled into designated infrastructure projects in exchange for predetermined commission fees or kickbacks,” he added.

As such, Clavano claimed that records pointed to alleged illicit payouts amounting to more than P573 million.

“Case records point to an accumulated sum of illicit payouts amounting to an aggregate sum of over P573 Million which were systematically delivered to the principal respondent, Senator Jinggoy Estrada,” he said.

The assistant ombudsman said the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) had issued a certification stating there was no documented initiation of budget insertions by Estrada, but stressed that the OMB believed insertions could allegedly occur through a “layered method.”

“This office acknowledges that the (LBRMO) Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office has issued a certificate regarding the absence of documented initiation of budget insertions by the respondent. However, this certificate does not capture all stages of the budgetary process, wherein insertions may be made in a layered method,” Clavano said.

The OMB also clarified that charges against former DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina “Cathy” E. Cabral were dismissed following her death.

Excluded 

Meanwhile, Clavano said former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto R. Bernardo, former NCR Regional Director Gerard P. Opulencia, and former Bulacan First District Engineer Henry C. Alcantara were excluded from the criminal informations after their admission into the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program (WPP).

“I want to emphasize this very clearly: our case is built on solid, immovable evidence. These state witnesses have provided comprehensive, cross-corroborated sworn statements that map out the execution of this scheme from its inception down to the logistics of the illicit payouts,” he stressed.

According to the OMB, the criminal informations are now being docketed before the Sandiganbayan and may soon be raffled to a division of the anti-graft court.

“If the honorable court finds probable cause, we anticipate the subsequent issuance of warrants of arrest against the principal respondents,” Clavano said.

No bail 

In addition, he said the OMB would seek a no-bail recommendation and pursue a Hold Departure Order against the respondents.

“The Office of the Ombudsman has recommended no bail for the respondents in the case. Likewise, the Office will pursue a Hold Departure Order for the respondents so as to preserve the integrity of the case in court,” he said.

“We will have one shot to get these cases right. The Filipino people need to see justice. This office is here to make sure we deliver just that,” he concluded.

Clavano declined to entertain further questions from the media following the filing of the charges.

As of press time, the accused had yet to issue any statement regarding the charges filed against them. The Manila Bulletin remains open to publishing the side of the senator and his co-accused in the interest of fair and balanced reporting.