Marcoleta faces plunder complaint over questions on campaign donations

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The Ombudsman will still conduct further probe and decide later whether or not to charge Marcoleta before the Sandiganbayan

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Rodante Marcoleta is facing a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for plunder and receiving gifts under Presidential Decree No. 46 due to questions on his campaign donations.

A source confirmed to Rappler on Friday, May 22, that the complaint was indeed pending before the Office of the Ombudsman and was related to Marcoleta’s campaign donation. Plunder is filed when the amount in question reached the threshold of P50 million.

The allegations against Marcoleta are still at the complaint stage. Meaning, the Ombudsman will still conduct further probe and decide later whether or not to charge Marcoleta before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

The questions on Marcoleta’s campaign donation reached the Commission on Elections (Comelec) because he declared a net worth of P51 million in 2025, yet spent P112 million for his senatorial campaign. He had no declared poll contributions.

However, he later confirmed he had gotten P75 million in campaign donations but clarified that he had received them before the start of the campaign period.

Marcoleta said he did not include the amount in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures because he was not yet a candidate when he received it.

In its decision, the Comelec ruled in favor of Marcoleta, saying that he did not violate election rules.

“Under Section 262 of the OEC (Omnibus Election Code), violation of Section 109 constitutes an election offense. However, due to the later law passed by Congress, it is one of the sections in the OEC that a violation of which will no longer constitute an election offense,” the Comelec said in March.

Marcoleta, a prominent member of the religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo, placed sixth during the 2025 senatorial elections with 15.1 million votes.

As a senator, he was given the powerful Senate blue ribbon committee in exchange for his support of Senator Chiz Escudero’s bid for the Senate presidency during the opening of the 20th Congress. He was replaced, however, by Senator Ping Lacson in September 2025 — in the middle of the probe into the multibillion flood control corruption.

Marcoleta was most famously known for being involved in heated arguments with other officials due to the application of Sarah and Curlee Discaya as state witnesses in government probes. – Rappler.com