Lacson Tags Former DPWH Chief Bonoan, Mayor In Flood Control Corruption
Sen. Panfilo Lacson scoffed at former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan’s defense that ghost projects in Bulacan were an “isolated case,” saying, “maybe he doesn’t want the investigation to unmask” Globalcrete Builders.
Resigned Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan turned out to be part of a family contractor business that bagged huge government projects in Pampanga, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
Aside from Bonoan, he said during the continuation of his privilege speech “Flooded Gates of Corruption” that a retired undersecretary and a sitting mayor were involved in flood-control corruption.
Lacson tagged Globalcrete Builders, which he said bagged P2.195 billion worth of flood control contracts in Bulacan from 2018 to 2024, as a firm owned by the Maglanque family of Candaba, with Mayor Rene Maglanque serving as company president. He said the mayor signed contracts in 2024 despite having been elected into office.
He cited the mayor’s own public statements boasting of billions of pesos in contracts he managed to secure.
The senator then pointed to MBB Global Properties Corp., which he said owns the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Clark which was built for almost P1 billion.
Reading from the company’s 2024 General Information Sheet, Lacson listed Macy Monique Maglanque as its president; Sunshine Bernardo as corporate secretary, Fatima Gay Bonoan dela Cruz as treasurer.
He underscored the initials: “Maglanque, Bernardo, Bonoan – MBB,” noting they are surnames “known” in the flood-control controversy – Candaba’s Mayor Maglanque; DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who took early retirement amid the scandal, and former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan.
“Now you connect the dots,” Lacson said that Macy Maglanque, Sunshine Bernardo and Fatima Gay Bonoan dela Cruz are the daughters of those officials.
Lacson scoffed at Bonoan’s defense that ghost projects in Bulacan were an “isolated case,” saying, “maybe he doesn’t want the investigation to unmask Globalcrete.”
Bonoan, who tendered his resignation over a week ago amid the Senate’s widening inquiry, was excused from the second Blue Ribbon committee hearing by then chair Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who asked him to deputize someone else from the agency who could answer questions.
