The Bureau of Immigration (BI) issued a hold departure order against Senator Jinggoy Estrada, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan, and three other officials while corruption investigations against them are ongoing.
The BI revealed it is already implementing the precautionary measure against the officials following the issuance of a similar order by a Manila court.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they immediately included Estrada, Bonoan as well as DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH National Capital Region director Gerald Opulencia, and former DPWH Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara in the agency watchlist database.
Immigration officers in airports and seaports all over the country are then ordered to prevent the said officials from traveling abroad.
Sandoval explained that Estrada and the others are considered as “flight risks” while undergoing investigations for corrupt practices involving the flood control mess rocking the Philippine government.
The barred officials must secure a permit from a local court to be allowed to temporarily leave Philippine borders.
Bonoan claimed he already sought permission to rejoin her wife who is seeking medical treatment in the US.
He, Estrada and the others are being investigated by the Department of Justice over complaints for plunder, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices law, direct bribery and corruption worth hundreds of billions of pesos.
It is not the first time that the veteran politician Estrada faces corruption charges as he was accused of embezzling at least P183 million (DH 11,585,771) from his pork barrel as a senator in 2014.
Previously, he was arrested with his father President Joseph Estrada for plunder amounting to P4.1 billion in 2001. The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
He was also acquitted of pork barrel bribery worth P1.76 million (DH 111,428) in 2024.
Estrada repeatedly claimed he never engaged in corruption. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
