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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
May 29, 2026 | 12:00am
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta on May 25, 2026 delivers a privilege speech, warning that the plunder and bribery charges recommended against him were part of a larger effort to weaken the Senate’s independence and silence dissenting voices.
Senate of the Philippines via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has received a copy of the travel ban issued by the Sandiganbayan against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former congressman Mike Defensor and two others as they face plunder and bribery complaints over P75 million in supposed campaign donations.
“We were able to secure a copy of the release of the Sandiganbayan,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said yesterday.
The Sandiganbayan Seventh Division granted the request of the Office of the Ombudsman for a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO).
“The BI is aware of this PHDO and will be able to verify it with the issuing authority if subjects are encountered at any international port,” Sandoval told The STAR.
The Office of the Ombudsman is conducting a preliminary investigation on the complaint for plunder, indirect bribery and alleged violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 on receiving gifts against Marcoleta and his co-respondents over questions on the senator’s election campaign donations.
The complaint stemmed from an earlier investigation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) into Marcoleta’s alleged non-disclosure of campaign donations in his statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE).
Marcoleta, who ran and placed sixth in the 2025 elections, previously declared that he had no poll contributions but during the Comelec probe, he admitted having received three separate donations in January 2025 totaling P75 million for his senatorial campaign.
According to the complaint, Defensor donated P30 million, while businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray contributed P25 million and P20 million, respectively, on Jan. 6, 8 and 9, 2025.
Apart from not declaring the amounts in his SOCE, Marcoleta also did not include the P75 million in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth submitted to the Senate as of June 30, 2025.
With this, ombudsman investigators said Marcoleta “unlawfully enriched himself at the expense of the public.”
