Typhoon Tino’s Deadly Wake: Flood Control Funds Vanish; Bonoan Corruption Exposed

Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan.

Typhoon Tino’s Deadly Wake: Flood Control Funds Vanish; Bonoan Corruption Exposed

By Wilma N. Yamzon – TheNationWeek.Com, November 7, 2025

MANILA, Philippines – The devastation wrought by Typhoon Tino has ripped open a festering corruption, revealing a shocking misappropriation of flood control funds that left communities defenseless against calamities.

As the death toll climbs and the number of missing persons increases, investigators have uncovered a web of negligence and corruption that allegedly points to former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan.

A special probe by President Marcos’ Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has disclosed a network of “ghost” projects within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), where billions of pesos allocated for flood mitigation vanished.

Bonoan is now under intense scrutiny for his alleged role in facilitating a large-scale fraud.

The ICI, already recommending administrative charges against Bonoan for a P72.4-million fictitious riverbank project, has linked him to another non-existent flood control scheme in Bulacan valued at P95.04 million.

The ICI report accuses the former DPWH chief of “egregious negligence akin to fraud,” enabling the “continued misappropriation of public funds.”

The investigation centers on a 147-meter concrete slope protection project in Barangay Bambang, Bocaue, that exists only on paper.

Despite the full disbursement of contract funds, no construction ever took place.

The ICI’s findings detail falsified documentation and a systemic failure by public officials, allowing the fraud to flourish “right under [Bonoan’s] watch.”

Aside from Bonoan, the ICI has recommended the filing of graft, malversation, and falsification charges against eight engineers from the DPWH Bulacan First District, along with a representative from the joint venture contractors, Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc. and Beam Team Developer Specialist, Inc.

A corroborating site inspection by the Commission on Audit (COA) confirmed the project’s complete absence, despite the unjustified release of full payment.

This scandal exposes a profound breakdown in oversight and accountability within the DPWH.

As the toll from Typhoon Tino continues to rise, the revelation of the brazen corruption has ignited public fury.

The investigation’s findings demand immediate and thorough inquiry into the management and distribution of public funds and underscore the devastating impact of corruption on the lives of the most vulnerable.

While the wheels of justice begin to turn, the survivors of Typhoon Tino are left to grapple with the tragic reality of a disaster as a result of greed and neglect.