Comelec: Marcoleta tagged P75M as personal

Senator Rodante Marcoleta classified the P75-million donation he received in 2025 as personal funds, according to a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official, contradicting his earlier claim that the amount had been treated as a campaign donation.

Comelec Political Finance and Affairs Department Attorney III Victoria Besinio told the Sandiganbayan First Division that the classification was reflected in donor tax documents submitted by Marcoleta himself to the agency.

Besinio testified as a prosecution witness in the anti-graft court’s case against Marcoleta for alleged violation of Presidential Decree No. 46.

The Comelec had previously investigated Marcoleta’s donations after the senator said in a live broadcast that he had failed to declare donations from three individuals in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SoCE).

The agency eventually dismissed the complaint, finding that the donations did not constitute an election offense because they were made before the formal campaign period.

The Comelec, however, confirmed that Marcoleta failed to include the P75 million in the P112 million he declared in his SoCE.

The agency identified the three donors as former congressman Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

The Sandiganbayan First Division is handling one of three counts of alleged violation of P.D. 46 against Marcoleta and his donors. The Third Division is separately handling the plunder case against the senator.

Marcoleta, Defensor, Espiritu and Viray are currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail–Male Dormitory in Payatas.