MANILA— Suspended Sen. Jinggoy Estrada had ₱7.4 billion in congressional initiatives under the 2025 national budget, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan testified Tuesday during the senator’s bail hearing before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division.

Various reports noted that Bonoan, who is now a state witness in the plunder case against Estrada involving alleged kickbacks from flood control projects, also testified that the senator sought ₱1 billion in infrastructure funding through a Senate Leadership Fund for 2025.

The prosecution also presented evidence involving a separate ₱475-million congressional initiative allegedly linked to Estrada and a congressman.

Estrada’s lawyer, Laurence Arroyo, challenged the relevance of the ₱7.4-billion initiatives and other allocations to the case. The court overruled his objection.

Bonoan said he devised the Senate Leadership Fund to let senators finance priority infrastructure projects without disrupting the DPWH’s proposed budget allocations.

Under the arrangement, Estrada initially requested about ₱1 billion, Bonoan said. Former DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral recommended an initial ₱500 million, which was included in the department’s proposed budget.

Bonoan testified that former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo later sought another ₱500 million for Estrada after the senator became Senate President Pro Tempore. Cabral subsequently recommended the additional allocation.

Bernardo, whom Bonoan described as a close friend of Estrada and his family, allegedly relayed the senator’s requests to the DPWH.

“I do not have any reason to doubt because Bernardo and the good senator are very close friends…I know that they are very close,” Bonoan said.

The prosecution said ₱700 million of Estrada’s ₱1-billion request was approved. A separate account of the proceedings indicated that ₱750 million was included in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

Bonoan said he had a list of projects under Estrada’s leadership fund, but acknowledged that the document did not bear the senator’s signature or contain acknowledgment receipts.

He also testified that part of the fund was intended for election expenses. Estrada, who attended the hearing through videoconferencing, denied the allegation, pointing out that he was not seeking reelection in the 2025 elections.

Bonoan said the Department of Budget and Management knew about the leadership fund arrangement, which he had discussed with the Cabinet’s economic team. However, he said he did not know whether President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had been informed.

The former DPWH secretary also maintained that changes made by Congress to the department’s proposed budget could no longer be reversed after lawmakers approved their version of the General Appropriations Bill.

Lawyers for former DPWH official Arturo Gonzales Jr., another accused in the case, questioned the arrangement, noting that the President could have vetoed the changes.

Bonoan was previously a co-accused in the plunder case but was discharged to serve as a prosecution witness in cases involving the alleged flood control corruption scheme.

The bail hearing is set to resume on Wednesday, Oct. 28, with Bernardo expected to testify.