Statement of Ombudsman on Plunder Case vs. Sen. Rodante Marcoleta
The Ombudsman officially filed a plunder case versus Senator Rodante Marcoleta over the controversial campaign donations.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta previously expressed his belief that he will be arrested and imprisoned. It was after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla claimed that his office will file plunder charges against the Senator.
The plunder charges that was then-eyed by the Ombudsman is over the P75 million campaign donations to Sen. Rodante Marcoleta which did not appear in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALN.
According to Sen. Marcoleta, some of the donors of the campaign donations that reached a total of P75 million were his friends. He claimed that his donors wanted to be anonymous.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta claimed that he is ready to be arrested by the authorities. According to him, an arrest and imprisonment are allegedly small sacrifices to show the Filipinos their value. He called on the people to not let reasoning be bent.
Thousands of members of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) recently gathered along EDSA to show their support to Sen. Marcoleta after the Ombudsman announced the intent of filing plunder charges against the Senator.
Recently, the Ombudsman officially filed the plunder charges against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta before the Sandiganbayan. Through a statement, the anti-graft office stated that it was not a decision made lightly.
“The evidence includes three cash donations totaling P75 million, undeclared in the senator’s SALN and campaign finance reports. This leaves our office no discretion to look away,” the Ombudsman wrote in its statement.
Furthermore, in its statement based on a post of News5, the Office of the Ombudsman stressed that Sen. Rodante Marcoleta has publicly confirmed receiving the money. It also stressed that the Senator mentioned “utang na loob” in one of his admissions.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta previously joined the INC rallyists and spoke before them over his possible arrest.