Defensor: 'Imprison Romualdez next'

Former congressman Mike Defensor said Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez should be the next to face imprisonment, claiming he and Senator Rodante Marcoleta were being persecuted for exposing the alleged multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

"They should imprison Martin Romualdez next. We were arrested first," Defensor told reporters after he and Marcoleta appeared before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division for their arraignment on charges of violating Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts.

Defensor also questioned what he described as unequal treatment, noting that Marcoleta was discharged from the PNP General Hospital after less than two weeks while former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan has remained confined there for about two months.

"Rodante Marcoleta stayed a bit at the hospital while Manuel Bonoan has been there for two months," he said.

The former lawmaker maintained that the cases stemmed from their efforts to expose alleged anomalies in the government's flood control program.

Defensor was previously linked to a group of 18 individuals who identified themselves as alleged bagmen of former congressman Zaldy Co, claiming they delivered cash-filled luggage to several public officials.

Marcoleta, meanwhile, chaired the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee under then Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, which heard the testimonies of the witnesses.

On 3 July, the Office of the Ombudsman filed plunder and PD 46 charges against Marcoleta and Defensor, along with businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

During Wednesday's arraignment, Defensor and Marcoleta pleaded not guilty to the alleged gift-giving charges. Marcoleta also entered a not guilty plea before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, where his plunder case and another PD 46 case are pending.

Marcoleta, Defensor, Espiritu, and Viray remain detained at the Quezon City Jail – Male Dormitory after being denied bail on the non-bailable plunder charge.