00:00The Anti-Graft Court Sandigan Bayan 3rd Division suspends Senator Rodante Marcoleta from his
00:05position as senator due to his pending plunder case. The 3rd Division says his suspension shall
00:11automatically be lifted upon the expiration of the 90-day period from the implementation of this
00:15resolution. In July, the Office of the Ombudsman filed the non-bailable case against Marcoleta
00:21due to questions related to 75 million pesos in campaign donations he received. Aside from plunder,
00:27the senator was also charged with three counts of alleged violation of Presidential Decree No. 46
00:31on receiving gifts. Marcoleta declared 51 million pesos as net worth in 2025 but spent 112 million
00:38pesos for his 2025 senatorial campaign. He later confirmed he received 75 million pesos in campaign
00:45donations, adding that he received the money before the campaign period started. The senator said he did
00:50not include this in his statement of contributions and expenditures because he was not yet a candidate
00:54by then but he was already a sitting house member at the time. The 3rd Division says the plain reading
01:00of the allegations in the case when hypothetically admitted sufficiently constituted the elements of
01:05plunder and violation of Presidential Decree No. 46. The chamber adds these cases are valid.
01:11Plunder is a corruption case which has a threshold of 50 million pesos. Marcoleta filed a petition for bail and
01:17the prosecution has finished presenting its evidence for the bail hearings.
