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The Sandiganbayan on Monday denied the Office of the Ombudsman’s move to remove former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) chief Manuel Bonoan from the graft charge filed against him in connection with the flood control corruption scandal.
The ruling presented a roadblock to the Ombudsman’s plan to use Bonoan as a state witness to help pin down several personalities implicated in the multibillion-peso flood control anomalies.
In the 12-page resolution promulgated on Aug. 3, the Sandiganbayan Second Division, chaired by Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg, said it found no merit in the Ombudsman prosecutors’ motion for leave to file amended information seeking to exclude Bonoan from the case dated June 29, on the ground that his coaccused, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, “will be prejudiced” by the move.
The prosecution had sought to drop Bonoan from the charge sheet and make him a state witness to strengthen the case to be filed against Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, the former Speaker, over the flood control scam.
