Malacañang is still validating Sen. Panfilo Lacson's claim that former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan deliberately provided false ghost flood control data to undermine the anomaly investigation. Lacson said the data led to incorrect grid coordinates for thousands of nationwide projects. Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong confirmed errors in these coordinates.
Palace press officer Claire Castro stated that they cannot provide details yet as verification of Lacson's claims continues. "As of now, we are still verifying the things Senator Lacson said so we cannot provide details yet," Castro said during a briefing.
Citing "very reliable information," Lacson claimed Bonoan's data resulted in incorrect grid coordinates for thousands of flood control projects across the country. "Even if he insists he is not a principal player, we can very clearly see his complicity in covering up the crime," the senator told reporters on Wednesday. He added, "He is misleading the Palace to weaken or discredit the investigation into ghost flood control projects. If several projects in the Sumbong Sa Pangulo website turn out to be false, people will think it is not reliable."
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), confirmed many projects had wrong coordinates. During his field work, he found flood works that "reached rice fields but were far from the water." "It’s surprising this is happening because we have different devices to make sure that geographical coordinates are correct. That’s why there are deceptions," Magalong told True FM. "I don’t know if Secretary Bonoan submitted the coordinates, but from what we saw, the data that was submitted to us – it’s complete; if you look at the project, the title of the project, location and geographical coordinates – there are many mistakes. I don’t know if they are doing it on purpose, but it’s impossible that they are not doing it on purpose."
He noted that descriptions were hard to understand, locations difficult to find, and contractors varied even for adjacent projects. The ICI briefly addressed coordinates during Bonoan's appearance on September 19, 2025, but Magalong did not confront him on it. Instead, he questioned Bonoan about billions of pesos lost in projects, to which Bonoan claimed ignorance.
In his defense, Bonoan said he was blindsided by his top lieutenants and delegated due to heavy workload. During his first Senate appearance in August, he said he only learned of ghost projects "lately." Magalong observed that Bonoan lacked ground supervision.
The ICI's interim report cited Bonoan's negligence as a key enabler of corruption. "The scheme perpetrated by senior DPWH employees was made possible because Bonoan betrayed such trust reposed in him. He miserably failed to exercise simple diligence tantamount to fraud in ensuring the judicious use of public funds entrusted to DPWH."
Meanwhile, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents are seeking a cyber warrant to examine the mobile phone of the late undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral. NBI spokesman Palmer Mallari said this would provide court authority to access the device believed vital to the case.
