Comelec will test Marcoleta defense
READY for the barangay vote Amid long tables and stacks of forms at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, residents line up to sign their names into the democratic roll, taking advantage of the Commission on Elections’ Special Register Anywhere/Anytime Program. The initiative allows qualified voters to register or update their records ahead of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections set for November.
PHOTOGRAPH by Toto Lozano for DAILY TRIBUNE
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said the poll body is investigating Senator Rodante Marcoleta not only on factual but also on legal issues.
Garcia said that Marcoleta set up his defense by admitting that a donation was given to him after he filed his candidacy in October 2024. Still, he contends he was not a candidate at the time the donation was made.
According to Garcia, Marcoleta’s defense is anchored in the Supreme Court ruling in Peñera vs. Comelec.
Garcia reveals an ongoing probe into Marcoleta that delves beyond mere facts into thorny legal territory.
Garcia noted the senator’s clever defense: acknowledging a donation received post his October 2024 candidacy filing, yet insisting he wasn’t officially a “candidate” at that moment — hitching his argument to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Peñera vs. Comelec.
“That is what he is saying that he should not be penalized or be charged if he accepted a gift, donation thus he should not be charged if he accepted gift or donation to anybody at the time he is not yet a candidate,” Garcia said.
In a 2009 decision involving Rosalinda Peñera, then mayor of Sta. Monica, Surigao del Norte — the Supreme Court held that a candidate is only liable for election offenses upon the start of the campaign period.
Garcia said Marcoleta had submitted affidavits and documents indicating the dates of the supposed donations, which the commission is currently evaluating.
He emphasized that the Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) already has a recommendation on this.
The poll chief said they already have a recommendation regarding the case, and the personality was given the chance to answer it, but there was some complication.
The Comelec this week received a referral from the Office of the Ombudsman involving a complaint against Marcoleta concerning both his SOCE and his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
Jurisdiction on SOCE
Garcia said the poll body has jurisdiction over the SOCE aspect of the complaint.
He added that the matter has already been forwarded to the Comelec Law Department.
He said the poll body’s PFAD has already drafted a resolution on the matter, but the commission must also consider the details contained in the newly filed complaint.
Garcia, on 19 February, said that PFAD had already completed its fact-finding probe into Marcoleta’s SOCE and could elevate its findings to the poll body’s Law Department if they see the need for a preliminary investigation.
The Comelec recently received a referral from the Office of the Ombudsman involving a complaint against Marcoleta concerning both his SOCE and his SALN.
Garcia said the poll body has jurisdiction over the SOCE aspect of the complaint.
He added that the matter has already been forwarded to the Comelec Law Department.