Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday, January 14 said he received information indicating that former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan deliberately submitted inaccurate data on flood control projects to Malacañang, which later appeared on the government’s “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website.
In a press conference, Lacson said the information points to the intentional submission of wrong grid coordinates covering thousands of flood control projects, distorting official records used by authorities to verify whether projects were actually implemented.
Asked about the credibility of the information, Lacson replied, “Yes. Very reliable,” stressing that the inaccuracies were not the result of simple error or omission.
Lacson said the incorrect coordinates were transmitted to the Presidential Management Staff and eventually fed into the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” portal, which relies on location data to guide inspection teams on the ground.
“Hindi lang technically. Niloko niya si Pangulo,” Lacson said, when asked if the alleged act amounted to misleading the President.
The senator explained that when inspection teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are given wrong coordinates, they would naturally fail to find any project on site and report it as a “ghost” project.
According to Lacson, this process initially contributed to reports flagging 421 flood control projects as questionable, a figure he said later turned out to be bloated because inspections were conducted using incorrect location data.
Lacson clarified that while the number of confirmed “ghost” projects would likely be “substantially lower” after validation, this does not mean that anomalies do not exist.
Lacson said the DPWH is now rectifying the records by reconciling data from its Multi-Year Planning and Scheduling system and its Project and Contract Management Application to establish accurate project locations.
To support the Senate’s investigation, Lacson said the Blue Ribbon Committee will issue a subpoena duces tecum to DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon for all relevant documents, including records related to the so-called “Cabral files” on flood control allocations.
The senator added that Bonoan, who is currently in the United States, will also be subpoenaed, warning that failure to comply could result in contempt proceedings and the issuance of a Senate warrant.
Bonoan left the country for the United States in November, according to Bureau of Immigration (BI) records. As of Wednesday, January 14, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said there is still no record of Bonoan’s return to the Philippines through any airport or seaport.
