The Sandiganbayan on Tuesday granted the Office of the Ombudsman’s request to issue precautionary hold departure orders (PHDOs) against Senator Rodante Marcoleta and three alleged contributors to his senatorial campaign as it conducts a preliminary investigation into a plunder case set to be filed against them.

Aside from Marcoleta, former representative Michael Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray were named respondents in the case involving alleged contributions made to the senator totaling P75 million.

During the hearing also held on Tuesday, Ombudsman investigators tagged all four respondents as “flight risks,” citing their financial capacity to leave the country.

Investigators pointed to Marcoleta’s alleged failure to disclose the supposed “gifts” in his 2025 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), which they said indicated a pattern to evade accountability.

Apart from plunder, investigators recommended the filing of three counts of indirect bribery against the senator, pointing out the contributions stemmed from his position in government.

The case pursued by the Ombudsman involves the same issue previously investigated by the Commission on Elections, which earlier ruled that Marcoleta did not commit an election offense.

During the hearing before the anti-graft court’s Seventh Division, it was revealed that the complaint stemmed from a filing made by Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao on 24 November 2025.

‘Nothing but a silencing mechanism’

For his part, Marcoleta dismissed the “trumped-up charges,” saying they were intended merely to silence critics of the administration who had openly voiced opposition to the government.

He specifically linked the case to his criticism of government agencies over their alleged failure to go after those involved in the multibillion-peso flood control corruption controversy.

“If the intention of these cases is to silence me, let me say this at the very beginning — it has failed. I will not be silenced. I will answer this complaint in the proper forum, calmly, firmly, and with evidence,” Marcoleta said in a privilege speech in the Senate on Monday, 25 May.

“Let us not pretend that this came in a vacuum. The pattern is too visible to ignore. First, remove the inconvenient voices from the inquiry. Then weaken those who refuse to conform. Then frighten others into silence and submission before the decisive constitutional battles begin,” he noted.

Marcoleta pointed out that senators will play a crucial role as senator-judges in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, stressing that their voices are important to ensure the process will proceed in accordance with the Constitution.