Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Thursday said that their case against Senator Rodante Marcoleta was “on track” for filing at the Sandiganbayan related to his supposed receipt of P75-million in campaign donations last 2025.

“Well seems to be on track,” Clavano answered when asked about the Ombudsman’s planned filing.

To recall, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla had announced last Monday, 29 June, that its resolution for its investigation into Marcoleta was set to be filed within the week.

Amid learning of the development, the senator took to social media to assert that the case was a clear case of “selective justice” and an act of “bending the law” as he was a public critic of the current administration.

However, Clavano clarified in a subsequent press conference that it was quick to build a case against Marcoleta as all the evidence that it had gathered came from the respondent himself through the latter’s own admissions in interviews.

“It’s hard to see where Sen. Marcoleta is coming from since the case itself, the evidence used by our investigators came from him,” the Assistant Ombudsman said.

Over the past week, thousands of the senator’s supporters from Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) staged a surprise rally at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City to echo their vehement opposition to the filing of the case on the individual that they viewed as a person that was spearheading the flood control probe.

On the second day of the protests on Wednesday, 1 July, Marcoleta himself appeared at the rally where he affirmed that he was “prepared” to be arrested if it was the consequence of fighting for what he believed was right, particularly when it came to the anomalies in infrastructure projects.

“I am prepared to be imprisoned. If it is necessary for me to be arrested, I have no problem with that. If this is the price that is being asked of me to defend justice, the nation’s welfare, and the interests of the Filipino people,” he said.

Amid the pressures from the rally to defer the filing, Remulla asserted that he simply viewed the protests as a form of “freedom of expression” and that, on their end, the case was going to reach the Sandiganbayan.

“Nothing has changed. We will file,” he firmly stated.

“There is no selective justice in this country when it comes to the Ombudsman,” he added.

The case against Marcoleta was said to have been built from his violation of a rule under the anti-plunder law which dictates that public officials are prohibited from receiving a large amount of “gifts” particularly in the form of cash–regardless if the same was sourced from private or public funds.

For the senator, the P75-million donation came from former congressman Mike Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

Another factor in the case that the Ombudsman pointed out was the fact that the amount was never disclosed in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) nor the Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCE), which in itself is a crime under Philippine law.