Sandiganbayan issues arrest warrant for Estrada and Bonoan, who post P90,000 graft bail

The Sandiganbayan Second Division on Friday, May 29, 2026, issued an arrest warrant and a hold-departure order against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and DPWH co-accused on the two graft counts under sections 3(b) and 3(e) of Republic Act 3019. Both Estrada and Bonoan posted the P90,000 bond required for each count later the same day, securing temporary liberty on the graft track. The court action followed the Office of the Ombudsman's May 28 filing of the plunder, two graft, and bribery cases at the Sandiganbayan over an alleged 30 percent cut on a P355 million Bulacan 1st District flood control allocation. The plunder information was raffled to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, where a warrant has not yet issued; defense motions filed on May 29 briefly delayed the probable cause determination on the non-bailable charge. Estrada becomes the highest-ranking sitting official ordered arrested in the flood control prosecution to date. He posted bail in person at the Sandiganbayan; Bonoan's bond was filed through counsel. Both submitted to the court's jurisdiction without contesting the warrant on the graft counts. Estrada called the Ombudsman's filing "hasty" in a brief statement at the Sandiganbayan, restating his earlier position that no record in the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office places him as author of any insertion. The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division is expected to act on the plunder warrant within the coming week. If issued, plunder under Republic Act 7080 is non-bailable when the evidence of guilt is strong, meaning Estrada and Bonoan would face detention on that separate track regardless of the bail posted today.