Imee Marcos teases DPWH chief over ‘unexplained poverty’

BONOAN’S ‘UNEXPLAINED POVERTY’: Sen. Imee Marcos, during the deliberations on the ad interim appointment of Manuel Bonoan as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways Tuesday, November 22, 2022, questions the P32 million receivables reflected in the latter’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) dated June 30, 2022. Bonoan explained that most parts of the amount were unpaid pensions for his retirement from private practice in San Miguel Corporation while the other was from private business. Senate PRIB photo / Bibo Nueva España

MANILA, Philippines—Unlike others “who have had trouble with unexplained wealth,”  Senator Imee Marcos  teased the head of the public works department for having “unexplained poverty.”

Marcos made the remark when Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan faced the  Commission on Appointments committee on public works and highways on Tuesday.

During the hearing, the lady senator asked Bonoan about the P32 million “receivables” he declared in his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).

“Apparently you gained these receivables only sometime between June 20, 2021, and  June 30, 2022. May we know the details of said receivables?” Marcos asked.

Bonoan explained that most of these receivables could have been from his retirement pay from his private practice in San Miguel Corporation.

“And I could imagine that there had been some also that came from other businesses that we’ve been into,” he said.

Marcos confirmed this, saying she has been informed that the money came from still unpaid retirement, and separation, among others.

“While some have had trouble with unexplained wealth, I wish to attest that in the case of Secretary Bonoan, we joke in Ilocos Norte that he has unexplained poverty,” she said.

“So I think that he is fit for the job in more ways than one. Highly qualified and indeed recycled as our Secretary during the time when infrastructure was in its in heyday, so we want to repeat the Golden Age of public works,” the senator also said.

The committee later recommended Bonoan’s confirmation and the CA plenary adopted this.

JPV/abc