Marcoleta faces perjury complaint

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December 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Poll watchdog Kontra Daya and the Advocates of Public Interest Law have filed a perjury complaint against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta before the Office of the Ombudsman over his alleged non-declaration of campaign contributions in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) for the May 2025 elections.

The joint complaint-affidavit was filed by Danilo Arao of Kontra Daya and public interest lawyers Alexander Lacson and Dino de Leon representing the Advocates of Public Interest Law.

The complainants said Marcoleta, in an interview with television program “Sa Ganang Mamamayan” aired on Net25 last Nov. 7, disclosed that contributions formed part of his P112 million in campaign funds for the May 12, 2025 elections.

The complainants said that Marcoleta, in the same interview, admitted that he did not declare these campaign contributions in his SOCE filed with the Commission on Elections because his donors supposedly asked him “not to identify them.”

“By his own admission, Respondent publicly acknowledged receiving campaign contributions for the May 12, 2025 senatorial elections, but deliberately declared zero contributions in his sworn SOCE,” the complaint read.

“These acts constitute perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes any person who, having taken an oath before a competent officer, willfully and deliberately asserts a falsehood upon a material matter,” it added.

The complainants pointed out that during the interview, Marcoleta admitted that he had no choice but to declare “zero” campaign contributions in his SOCE, which he filed with the Comelec on June 10, 2025, as declaring campaign contributions also entails disclosing the sources of that contributions.

“I will be forced to make it (campaign contributions) zero. Because if I put an amount there [in the SOCE], I will be forced to, one by one, disclose your identity,” Marcoleta was quoted by the complainants as saying in the interview.

The complainants said the interview was also uploaded on YouTube and has since accumulated more than 19,000 views as of the time of writing of their complaint.

“This admission shows that he consciously chose to declare zero contributions precisely to avoid disclosing his donors, despite knowing that the law required him to do so. His use of ‘mapipilitan’ reflects not coercion, but a recognition of a legal duty he intentionally decided to evade,” the complainants said.

“Respondent’s explanation that his donors asked him to treat their contributions as ‘utang na loob’ (debt of gratitude) further confirms that the concealment was deliberate. As a lawyer, he knew the legal consequences of submitting a false sworn statement, but he nonetheless elected to misrepresent his contributions to shield his donors from being identified,” they added. — Rhodina Villanueva