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Marcoleta was a representative of the SAGIP party-list group at the time he received the money. How can he defend accepting the P75 million? Did Marcoleta’s money come in maletas, too?
The past few days brought tremendous, unexpected disruption on EDSA and other major thoroughfares, all because of a surprise rally staged by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). What was that for? To protect from possible arrest their religious kin, Senator Rodante Marcoleta, who faces a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over campaign contributions.
According to political reporter Dwight de Leon, the INC legislator, who placed sixth in the May 2025 senatorial race, failed to declare campaign contributions in his bid, where he spent P112 million. (Marcoleta declared zero campaign contributions in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures submitted to the Commission on Elections or Comelec.) How he managed to spend P112 million when his net worth was pegged at only P51 million raises a very obvious question. Where did the money come from?
Marcoleta later confirmed in November 2025 that he got P75 million in donations, but argued that he received the money well before the start of the official campaign period. Thus, he was not yet officially a candidate and should therefore be free from the clutches of the poll body. The Comelec subsequently ruled that he was in the clear.
