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Neil Jayson Servallos - The Philippine Star
March 11, 2026 | 12:00am
Senators Panfilo Lacson and Rodante Marcoleta exchange sharp remarks during the Senate plenary session yesterday.
RYAN BALDEMOR
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta is acting as a mouthpiece for China and detained contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.
Delivering a privilege speech to “shut the whole political circus down,” Lacson fired back at Marcoleta and his month’s worth of potshots regarding Lacson’s Blue Ribbon committee chairmanship and the West Philippine Sea.
Marcoleta denied accusations of being pro-China and described Lacson’s speech as full of “ad hominem” attacks that do not address the issues.
Aside from playing a video compilation of Marcoleta supposedly defending the Discayas, Lacson recalled Marcoleta’s suggestion that the country give up the Kalayaan Island Group.
He reminded the plenary of Marcoleta’s pending case before the Commission on Elections regarding his failure to disclose campaign contributors in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures.
Citing Marcoleta’s televised remarks that he supposedly accepted money to incur a “debt of gratitude,” Lacson said Marcoleta should know this constitutes indirect bribery under the Revised Penal Code.
As their exchange grew heated, Marcoleta claimed that “inter-parliamentary courtesy” was being used to shield former speaker Rep. Martin Romualdez from the probe.
The animosity between the two senators can be traced back to the flood control inquiry of the Blue Ribbon, which Marcoleta had chaired before a leadership shake-up that saw Lacson elected to the anti-graft panel.
In denying his alleged pro-China stance, Marcoleta said he had asked the Senate foreign relations panel to meet with the Department of Foreign Affairs and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority about his call to map out the West Philippine Sea.
Panel chair Sen. Erwin Tulfo said the meeting will not push through due to the agencies’ national security concerns – a response that did not sit well with Marcoleta.
After poking fun at Marcoleta, Lacson said his head started to ache after hearing Marcoleta’s endless remarks that make it appear that China, not the Philippines, has the rightful West Philippine Sea claim.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III had banged the gavel for a break when the two seemed to be coming to blows.
As for the 18 men claiming to have delivered kickback money to President Marcos and other state officials, Marcoleta tried to corner Lacson into scheduling a Blue Ribbon inquiry.
Sotto urged Marcoleta to take up his concerns with the rules committee instead of prolonging the issue.
‘Inconsistent’
Probers found inconsistencies in lawyer Levito Baligod and the 18 men’s media interviews and affidavit submitted to the ombudsman, according to the National Bureau of Investigation.
NBI director Melvin Matibag said there were “slight changes in the affidavit they posted.”
“But if you cross-check what happened last week, there were already several supervening events, such as television interviews, where we could see the differences,” he added.
Matibag said it was unusual for a large group of people to submit a single joint affidavit recounting events.
Discrepancies could cast doubt on the entire narrative presented by the group, Matibag asserted. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Mark Ernest Villeza
