MANILA, Philippines — An Ombudsman investigator admitted in court that authorities found no evidence that the three businessmen accused of giving Sen. Rodante Marcoleta P75 million had met or communicated with one another.
Maria Melinda Mananghaya-Henson, director of the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Bureau, made the admission during the September 14 bail hearing for Marcoleta and businessmen Mike Defensor, Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.
Under questioning by Viray’s lawyer Chris Ocampo, Mananghaya-Henson said she had no information that the three donors had ever met and could not identify any evidence of communication among them, apart from their deeds of donation being notarized and subscribed on the same date and at the same location.
She also confirmed that Viray was not mentioned in a video of Marcoleta presented by the prosecution and acknowledged that neither the video nor the fact-finding investigation referred to an “investment,” a term introduced by investigators.
The three donors were not interviewed during the fact-finding stage, which Mananghaya-Henson described as confidential.
The testimony came as the prosecution continues presenting evidence in the plunder case, which centers on P75 million in donations to Marcoleta ahead of the 2025 elections.
Notarized deeds showed Defensor donated P30 million, Espiritu P25 million and Viray P20 million in January 2025 in support of Marcoleta’s possible senatorial candidacy.