FORMER Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel “Manny” Bonoan has returned to the Philippines after traveling to the United States, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Bonoan arrived Sunday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a China Airlines flight from Taipei, Taiwan.
Bonoan went through “the standard procedure for arriving international passengers,” Viado said.
The bureau immediately informed the Department of Justice (DOJ) about Bonoan’s arrival, he said.
Based on Immigration records, Bonoan left for the United States on Nov. 11, 2025, to accompany his wife, who was scheduled to undergo a medical procedure.
He was supposed to return on Dec. 17, 2025.
Bonoan was listed in the BI’s Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) following an order from the DOJ to monitor his travels overseas.
He had been summoned to an investigation into the alleged ghost and anomalous flood control projects.
Viado said Bonoan was allowed to travel out of the country because the order was for monitoring purposes only.
The bureau can issue an ILBO if the “gravity of the allegations” warrants it, and there is a strong possibility that the subject individual “may attempt to evade legal processes by leaving the country.”
The order requires immigration officers to verify from relevant government agencies if there are newly issued orders relating to the subjects if they attempt to depart.
Bonoan resigned as DPWH chief on Aug. 30, 2025, following his implication in the flood control scam that happened under his watch.
He was replaced by former Transportation secretary Vince Dizon.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) accused him of “inexcusable negligence tantamount to fraud” for failing to prevent the plunder of public funds.
The commission recommended the filing of charges against Bonoan and other DPWH officials in connection with alleged irregularities in multi-million flood control projects in Bulacan, which is regarded as “ground zero” of the flood control controversy.
It recommended that Bonoan, the late undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, and resigned DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo be administratively charged for grave misconduct, gross dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, or violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
In its interim report to the Office of the Ombudsman, the panel said there were “sufficient factual and legal bases to recommend the filing of appropriate charges” against Bonoan and the other DPWH officials.
“The results of the COA technical inspection, together with the available records, clearly establish that the project was never constructed at the designated location in the Approved Bid Plans; thus, it was not implemented, despite the unwarranted release and full payment of the contract cost by the DPWH to Topnotch,” ICI Chairman Andres Reyes Jr. said.
The Ombudsman has not filed charges against Bonoan.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. exposed the anomalies in DPWH’s flood control projects in his State of the Nation Address last July.
During a Senate investigation, Bonoan confirmed there were non-existent flood control projects in Bulacan worth billions of pesos that were supposedly implemented from 2022 to 2025.
He also said that not all on the list of completed flood control projects from July 2022 to May 2025 that he submitted to Malacañang were started under the Marcos administration.
“Some of the projects on the list were started by the past administration and were completed in 2022 and 2023. The implementing budget for this administration started in 2023, and we included them in our report because that was asked from us,” Bonoan said.
He said there were 15,556 flood control projects that were for implementation from 2022 to 2026, with 9,856 already completed, and 5,700 others scheduled for completion between 2025 and 2026.
Bonoan maintained that DPWH, under his watch, used the flood control fund “efficiently.”
Under the 2025 General Appropriations Act, the DPWH has the second largest share at P1.055 trillion, next only to the P1.055 trillion of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Marcos vetoed P26.065 billion in line items for the DPWH’s flood control-related projects.
Among those vetoed were flood control projects in Region III, amounting to P7 billion; Region 2, with P3.2 billion; Region 5, with P2.73 billion; the National Capital Region, with P1.75 billion; and Region 1, with P1.1 billion.
In 2024, an inquiry by the Senate Committee on Public Works noted a significant budget increase for the DPWH’s flood control measures from P42 billion in 2015 to P244.57 billion in 2024, with an estimated total of P1 trillion in a span of 10 years.
