THE Sandiganbayan Third Division on Wednesday committed Sen. Rodante Marcoleta to the Quezon City Jail male dormitory after the Philippine General Hospital and Philippine National Police General Hospital diagnosed him as fit to travel.
The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group transported Marcoleta to the jail from the Sandiganbayan after the anti-graft court issued the commitment order.
Earlier this month, the court found probable cause to try the plunder case filed against him and three others, and issued warrants for their arrest.
The Office of the Ombudsman had filed the case in connection with amounts totaling about P75 million that Marcoleta allegedly received from his co-accused in January 2025 during his time as a representative of the party-list group Sagip.
Also on Wednesday, former lawmaker Michael Defensor, Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray, who made the donations, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Marcoleta was not arraigned amid his pending motion to quash the charge sheet.
The Ombudsman also accused the four individuals of violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 46, which makes it strictly illegal for public officials and employees to receive, and for private individuals to give gifts, presents or entertainment on any occasion — including Christmas — if the gift is offered by reason of the official’s public position.
The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has found probable cause to try the PD 46 case filed against Marcoleta and Defensor.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division set for July 22 the arraignment in the PD 46 case filed against Espiritu and Marcoleta. This case had been raffled off to the court’s Sixth Division, but in a July 8 resolution, it ordered that the case records be forwarded to the Third Division for possible consolidation.
The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division said that the consolidation “will promote the speedy disposition of cases, serve the convenience of the parties and the interest of justice, and prevent conflicting rulings.” On Wednesday, the court’s Third Division said that it already accepted the Sixth Division’s referral.
Defensor denied that an illegal act was committed.
On May 18, Ombudsman field investigators filed before the Office of the Ombudsman a complaint which, Marcoleta said in a post on Facebook, was “without evidence of public injury, official favor, corrupt consideration or abuse of office.” The investigators cited donor’s tax returns and deposit slips in saying that Marcoleta received P30 million on Jan. 6, 2025, from Defensor and P25 million on Jan. 8, 2025, from Espiritu and P20 million on Jan. 9, 2025, from Viray.
All four accused are detained.
