Investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman have classified Senator Rodante Marcoleta and his contributors as “flight risks” in light of its recent recommendation to file cases of plunder against them for the P75 million in campaign donations he received in 2025.

During the hearing of the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division regarding the request of the investigative body to issue precautionary hold departure orders (PHDOs) on the respondents, two investigators testified that Marcoleta along with former congressman Michael Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray supposedly had the financial capacity to leave the country.

Leilani Tagulao-Marquez, an officer from the Ombudsman’s Preliminary Investigation, Administrative Adjudication, and Prosecution Bureau, said that one of the considerations for all four respondents to be considered as “flight risks” was the non-bailable nature of a plunder case.

According to Republic Act No. 7080 or the Anti-Plunder Law, the crime of plunder is considered as non-bailable as it is a capital offense which subjects a charged individual to a punishment of life imprisonment.

Likewise, based on the 1987 Constitution, an individual that figured in a crime, has strong evidence to support guilt, and could be punished with such imprisonment would be disallowed from filing bail.

Why Plunder?

After explaining the need for a PHDO, Marquez was then asked by the Associate Justices why it had recommended for a case of plunder to be filed against Marcoleta and others despite the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ruling that they had not committed an election offense.

To this, the investigator answered that despite the lack of ill-intent of the contribution, the mere fact that Marcoleta, who was a sitting congressman at the time, is a public official, they should not receive any amount of money, nevertheless an “excessive amount” of P75 million.

She also mentioned that it was questionable why Marcoleta did not declare the received amount on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) dated in June and December of 2025.

That sentiment was backed by Maria Melinda Mananghaya-Henson, Director of the Field Investigation Bureau of the Ombudsman in Luzon, who noted that all assets of an individual, regardless if the amount has already been spent or not must be indicated in the SALN.

As a way to suffice her argument, Henson said that it would take a congressman with a salary of P290,000 to accumulate the gifted amount for a period of 20 years.

Preliminary Investigation

Henson, who led the fact-finding team that recommended for the filing of the plunder, confirmed that the case against Marcoleta and others was in the preliminary investigation stage and that their team had finished their part.

The investigator said that the complaint initially stemmed from the complaint of Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao that was submitted on 24 November 2025.

Circling back to the outcome of the COMELEC probe, Henson said that a memorandum was issued to their team stating that the Ombudsman needed to conduct its own independent investigation to confirm if the respondents would be liable for other criminal offenses.

As it currently stands, Marquez said their group tasked with the preliminary investigation had already found that Marcoleta, Defensor, Espiritu, and Viray should be imprisoned for a period not less than six years.