THE Sandiganbayan Third Division has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of detained Sen. Rodante Marcoleta over his pending P75-million plunder case.
Third Division Clerk of Court Dennis Pulma confirmed the Oct. 19 ruling promulgated by Associate Justice Karl B. Miranda, on Oct. 19, to The Manila Times on Monday.
The plunder case accuses Marcoleta of amassing P75 million in ill-gotten wealth through alleged gifts or donations of P30 million from Mike Defensor, P25 million from Joseph Espiritu and P20 million from Aristotle Baluyut Viray, purportedly received by reason of his former position as Sagip party-list representative.
Marcoleta also faces a separate charge under Presidential Decree 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts by reason of their office. The charge alleges that Espiritu gave him P25 million because of his official position, regardless of past favors or future expectations.
In ordering the suspension, the court said preventive suspension was mandatory after it found the charges valid. It held that the allegations, if hypothetically admitted as true, sufficiently established the elements of the offenses, without determining Marcoleta’s guilt.
“There are no ifs and buts about it,” the court said, explaining that it had no discretion to decide whether preventive suspension was required once the charges were found valid.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier described the case as straightforward, saying the prosecution could rely on existing records and admissions by Marcoleta rather than prove every piece of evidence from scratch.
“It’s simple, there are many admissions. We don’t really have to prove many of the pieces of evidence; we just have to remind the court that these records exist and that the admissions are there,” Remulla told reporters during a press briefing on Oct. 16.
The court dismissed the argument that the Commission on Elections’ jurisdiction over election contributions barred the cases from proceeding, ruling that the plunder and gift-related charges before it could be heard independently of election cases under the poll body’s jurisdiction.
It further said Marcoleta’s suspension would not prevent the Senate from carrying out its duties. “The Senate, a collegial body composed of 24 senators, can still perform its functions even during the preventive suspension of a member,” the court said, adding that Senate committees could continue working through their remaining members.
The court said Marcoleta’s arguments concerning the factual record, freedom of expression, political participation and equal protection would be addressed during trial. At this stage, it was required only to determine whether the allegations, assumed to be true for that purpose, sufficiently established the elements of the charged offenses.
Marcoleta was arrested on July 6 after the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant in the plunder case. He was later transferred to the Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory in Payatas, where he remains detained.
