The Sandiganbayan Third Division set the schedule for the bail hearing of Senator Rodante Marcoleta and his three co-accused on 3 September for the case of plunder in relation to his alleged receipt of P75 million in campaign donations in 2025.

The development came after Marcoleta along with former congressman Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray submitted their respective petitions to be granted provisional liberty.

Associate Justice Karl Miranda issued the order during the pre-trial hearing on the said case, noting that while cases such as plunder were non-bailable due to the severity of the crime and their requisite punishments that there were still exceptions under law.

Miranda explained that when it came to respondents filing petitions for bail, the court was obligated to conduct a bail hearing wherein the prosecution would have the burden to prove whether the guilt against a particular respondent was strong.

“The general rule, all offenses are bailable, that is the general rule. The exception to the general rule is when the accused is charged with an offense punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment,” the justice explained.

“There is an exception to the exception when the evidence of guilt is not strong, even if the accused is charged with an offense punishable by death, life imprisonment, or reclusion perpetua they could still be granted bail,” he added.

With the first day of the bail hearings set, state prosecutors informed the court that they intended to present eight witnesses for the proceedings.

Motion to dismiss, withhold suspension order

In a related development, the court confirmed that the camp of Marcoleta had filed separate motions to dismiss the case and withhold the issuance of a preventive suspension from his post as a sitting senator of the Philippines.

Preventive suspensions are automatically issued to any public officer that is charged with plunder at the anti-graft court in accordance with the Anti-Plunder Act.

Notably, Senator Jinggoy Estrada was handed a 90-day suspension which started on 22 June due to his pending plunder case over a supposed P573-million infrastructure kickback.

The court ordered prosecutors to submit their manifestations in response to the motions on Monday, 17 August.

Tensions between Defensor and BJMP

After the trial concluded, while the accused officials were being escorted to their transport vehicle, tensions flared between Defensor and officials from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

The former congressman claimed that they had supposedly been raided twice by the BJMP. He, however, was not able to clarify what particular or where they were being raided.

Asked whether a gag order had been issued to the respondents, the Third Division’s court clerk Atty. Pulma told reporters that he was not aware of a suspension order.

Pulma clarified that detained individuals were only prohibited from disclosing details regarding the merits of their pending case.

The BJMP, on the other hand, has yet to release an official statement regarding the incident.