Senator Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday cried foul over the looming plunder charges prepared against him by the Ombudsman, calling it a “calculated” effort designed to shield the real perpetrator behind the alleged corruption scheme in the government.

Marcoleta’s scathing criticism came a day after Ombudsman Boying Remulla’s announcement that the non-bailable case is already up for filing in the Sandiganbayan this week.

The lawmaker slammed the move as selective prosecution, citing the Ombudsman’s lack of urgency to prosecute former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, even as Remulla announced the possible filing of plunder charges against him as early as April.

He also pointed to the Ombudsman’s plan to make former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan a state witness in the flood control probe, despite his alleged involvement in the kickback scheme and his already being charged in the P573 million plunder case.

“So as you can see, we have no one on our side…If they arrest me, that (flood control investigation) will no longer push through. They [want] to bury it in oblivion,” Marcoleta said in Filipino in a video statement posted on his Facebook page.

In addition, maintained that the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte may also be a contributing factor in his looming arrest, claiming it was a veiled bid to scale back the participation of senators allied with Duterte.

In the same vein, Marcoleta averred that although Remulla’s announcement no longer came as a surprise, it also suggests that the move is a sweeping, well-coordinated political attack against the opposition, who are vocal against the alleged involvement of lawmakers allied with the government. 

He cited Senator Ping Lacson’s earlier remarks that at least nine senators are likely to face arrest over the flood control scandal, saying, “As if he already knew what would happen.” 

Lacson, in response, dismissed Marcoleta’s claim as mere “gaslighting.” He also argued that his previous statement was merely a repeat of Remulla’s earlier pronouncement.

Furthermore, Lacson contended that his remarks were purely mathematical, saying that if the arrest of several senators were to happen, it could affect the voter turnout for impeachment.

“The mention of nine senators being possibly incarcerated was a hypothetical statement in the context of determining the base number to compute the constitutional requirement of 2/3 vote of all senators actively participating or not in the impeachment trial," Lacson explained.

Marcoleta and Lacson have traded barbs over several key issues, including the contested West Philippine Sea and flood control anomalies.

The looming plunder charges against Marcoleta pertain to his acceptance of campaign donations amounting to P75 million to support his Senate bid in the 2025 elections.

The Ombudsman also took issue with Marcoleta’s non-disclosure of the campaign donations in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures. 

The donations came from former Rep. Mike Defensor (P30 million), a certain Joseph Espiritu (P25 million), and Aristotle Viray (P20 million), who are also named respondents to the impending complaint.

Aside from plunder, Marcoleta and the donors are also likely to face three counts of indirect bribery.