Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano Speaks on Detained Senators amid Impeachment Trial
CAYETANO – The Senate Minority Leader is pushing for the participation of detained senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Secretary of Interior and Local Government or SILG Jonvic Remulla recently confirmed the arrest of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. The minority Senator is faced with plunder charges filed by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.
Marcoleta’s plunder case is in line with the undeclared multi-million campaign donation to him. The Senator reportedly received a total of P75 million in campaign donation and it was not declared in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta claimed that some of the donors behind the campaign donation are his friends. According to him, they want to be anonymous. He stressed that he is ready to face the charges filed against him.
Ahead of the recent arrest of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, thousands of members of Iglesia ni Cristo previously rallied along EDSA to show their support to the Senator following the statement of the Ombudsman on the possibility of filing a case against him. After the protest, the Ombudsman pushed through with the case citing the “admissions” from the Senator.
Some members of the Senate minority bloc appeared at the INC rally in support for Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. One of them is former Senate President and now Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.
Recently, based on a post of News5, as the impeachment trial of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte begins, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano expressed his request to his fellow senators to consider requesting the Sandiganbayan to allow detained senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta to participate in the impeachment trial.
“We want them to participate and observe the witnesses,” Cayetano said.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s recent arrest came a few weeks after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was arrested for plunder over his alleged involvement in the flood control corruption. Estrada maintained his innocence. Some members of the then-majority bloc including then Senate Pres. Alan Peter Cayetano showed their support to him when he turned himself to the authorities.
The Court has put Estrada under temporary suspension. Amid his detention, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada previously stressed that he is supposedly still a senator-judge in the impeachment trial of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.