There is no indication that former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan will return to the Philippines after he was implicated in allegedly questionable flood control projects in Bulacan, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.
“We have no news yet. We have not talked yet – no communication,” Remulla said in a television interview.
Bonoan left the country for the United States via Taiwan in November 2025. According to the Department of Justice, Bonoan accompanied his wife for the latter’s medical procedure in the US, and was scheduled to return on December 17, 2025.
However, Bonoan, who is the subject of an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) earlier issued by the DOJ, has not yet returned to the country.
Despite this, Remulla assured the public no one will be exempted from the probe into alleged anomalies in the government’s flood control projects.
“There are no sacred cows here. Everyone – whether they are relatives, whether they are powerful, whether they are allies or enemies – all are covered by our pursuit of justice,” the DILG chief said.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure previously recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Bonoan, who resigned as DPWH secretary in August 2025.
Bonoan earlier maintained his innocence in the alleged corruption in flood control projects.
I can shout, ‘I am not involved,’” he said during the sidelines of the House infrastructure committee’s probe in September last year.
Bonoan said he has no regrets on serving as DPWH chief from 2022. “I’m sure that we’ve done something good. In my three years in the department, we’ve done a lot of things.”
