Marcoleta raises SC plea before Sandigan
The Ombudsman accused Marcoleta of receiving a total of P75 million in alleged donations before the 2025 national elections.
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The Ombudsman accused Marcoleta of receiving a total of P75 million in alleged donations before the 2025 national elections.
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A lawyer of Senator Rodante Marcoleta on Monday told the Sandiganbayan that the senator has a pending petition before the Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of the criminal cases filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Appearing before the Sandiganbayan First Division, lawyer Moises Tolentino said the petition seeks to nullify the plunder case and charges for alleged violations of Presidential Decree 46, which prohibits public officials from accepting gifts, and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Tolentino, however, said he could not discuss the petition in detail because he had only entered his appearance as one of Marcoleta’s counsel on Monday.
Marcoleta and his co-accused, businessman Aristotle Viray, appeared before the anti-graft court for the arraignment on one of the senator’s three counts of violating Presidential Decree 46.
Viray entered a plea of not guilty, while Marcoleta declined to plead, citing his pending petition before the Supreme Court. The Sandiganbayan subsequently entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Marcoleta had earlier pleaded not guilty to two other Presidential Decree 46 charges and the plunder case. His camp had previously filed a motion to quash the charges but later withdrew it to expedite proceedings on his petition for bail.
Political motive
The Ombudsman accused Marcoleta of receiving a total of P75 million in alleged donations before the 2025 national elections.
Also named as alleged conspirators were former Congressman Mike Defensor, businessman Viray and Joseph Espiritu.
Marcoleta has denied the allegations and maintained that the charges are politically motivated, claiming he is being targeted because of his push to investigate the alleged flood control anomaly and his position on the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte as a member of the Senate minority.
Because plunder is a non-bailable offense, Marcoleta has been detained at the Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory since 15 July.
He is being held in the same facility as fellow Senate Minority member Jinggoy Estrada, who is also facing a plunder case related to the alleged flood control scandal.
