Marcoleta, 3 others arrested for plunder
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta on Monday was taken to a hospital due to hypertension and chest pains, following his arrest for plunder as ordered by the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl Miranda, Third Division chair, also ordered the arrest of former Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray, in connection with the plunder case stemming from a P75-million donation to Marcoleta in 2025, when he was a party list lawmaker eyeing a senatorial candidacy.
With his arrest, Marcoleta failed to attend the opening of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, where he would have served as one of the senator-judges.
Marcoleta arrived at the Sandiganbayan early on Monday for a hearing on three motions he filed against his plunder case, including one seeking to suspend the proceedings on his case and another to stop his arrest.
The court denied these two motions, allowing his arrest to proceed.
Marcoleta had also filed a motion to quash or a bid to junk his case, which the Third Division gave state prosecutors three days to comment on.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla also arrived at the Sandiganbayan, ready to accompany Marcoleta to Camp Crame. According to Remulla, the senator’s coaccused Defensor and Espiritu were also arrested later that day. Viray was arrested Monday night.
Marcoleta said he went to the Sandiganbayan in accordance with due process. “The Sandiganbayan said they already determined probable cause, so they issued a warrant of arrest, we respect that,” he told reporters.
He said his court appearance proves that “I will not hide, I will face the law, the case in accordance with my understanding of our law.”
Campaign donations
A member of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), Marcoleta admitted last November in his TV program aired by the sect’s Net25 network that “friends” gave him the P75 million as campaign contributions in January 2025, some two months before the midterm election campaign when he ran for, and eventually won, as senator.
It was Marcoleta himself who also identified as among his “friends” Defensor, Espiritu and Viray, who donated the respective amounts of P30 million, P20 million and P25 million.
The total amount exceeded the P50 million threshold for plunder under Republic Act (RA) No. 7080. But Marcoleta maintained in his counteraffidavit that the donations did not constitute public funds.
Nevertheless, state prosecutors noted that the donations were not reflected in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth in June and December of 2025.
‘Medical assessment’
In his counteraffidavit, Marcoleta claimed “the amounts had already been used for their intended election-related purposes and were no longer assets held by me.”
After he was taken into custody, Marcoleta was later taken to the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame.
Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II, chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, told reporters that the senator “complained of chest pain and had high blood pressure, that’s why we first brought him to the hospital.”
“After his medical assessment, whatever the PNP doctors say, we will also relay it to the Sandiganbayan,” Morico said.
Marcoleta’s arrest on Monday prompted no resistance, as of now, from his supporters in the INC—in contrast to their lightning rallies last week following Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s announcement of the plunder case against the senator.
The rallies particularly on Edsa, which disrupted work and traffic along Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare, had prompted critics of the INC to note that it should be penalized by the Securities and Exchange Commission since the sect is a registered corporation.
‘Tense situation’
State prosecutors still went ahead with filing the plunder case against Marcoleta and his coaccused on Friday.
Malacañang on Monday said it does not expect the INC to stage another rally following the senator’s arrest.
Miranda, meanwhile, issued a video statement addressed to the “general public,” saying “Do not fear. Do not be anxious because the court, the judiciary, is here to provide a peaceful forum for the resolution of disputes inside the courtroom and not in the streets.”
“In my 10 years in this court, we have never given a statement directly to the media,” said the veteran jurist and academic who had served in his position since January 2016. “But because of the tense situation, the court needs to do so.”
“After evaluating the records, the court found probable cause to believe that the accused committed the offense charged,” Miranda also said.
Apart from his hospital confinement, Marcoleta was ordered committed to the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas, where Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. are also held for plunder and graft charges relating to alleged irregularities in the use of the government’s flood control funds.
Marcoleta’s arraignment is scheduled on July 10. —WITH REPORTS FROM ANDREA GREGORIO, MARY JOY SALCEDO AND DEXTER CABALZA
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