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Sen. Rodante Marcoleta speaks during a Senate plenary session on May 11, 2026. Wendell Alinea,  Senate Social Media Unit

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PH SENATE

Kaxandra Salonga

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177977310574320260512-senate-coup-marcoleta-SSMU2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Sen. Rodante Marcoleta speaks during a Senate plenary session on May 11, 2026. Wendell Alinea, Senate Social Media Unit </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Sandiganbayan said on Tuesday that the Office of the Ombudsman’s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/25/ombudsman-seeks-to-ban-marcoleta-defensor-others-from-traveling-abroad-1919">application for precautionary hold departure orders</a> (PHDO) against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray has been submitted for resolution.</p><p>This came after a complaint-affidavit prepared by the Luzon Field Investigation Bureau of the Office of the Ombudsman recommended the filing of plunder and indirect bribery charges against the senator over his alleged non-disclosure of P75 million in campaign donations allegedly received from his co-respondents, Defensor, Espiritu and Viray, in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).</p><p>The anti-graft court’s Seventh Division conducted an ex-parte hearing on the application, during which investigators from the graft-busting body presented testimonial and documentary evidence to support the request to bar the personalities from leaving the country.</p><p>Maria Melinda Mananghaya-Henson, director of the Field Investigation Bureau-Luzon of the Office of the Ombudsman, told the court that Marcoleta posed a flight risk due to his influence as a senator and his financial capacity to leave the country to evade prosecution and investigation.</p><p>She added that Marcoleta’s alleged failure to disclose P75 million in campaign donations during the May 2025 elections showed a “tendency to conceal illegality” and shield himself from liability.</p><p>Mananghaya-Henson argued the other respondents were also considered flight risks since they allegedly acted as co-conspirators in the distribution of the cash donations and possessed the influence and financial capacity to travel abroad amid the ongoing investigation.</p><p>She said the complaint was received by the Office of the Ombudsman on Dec. 5, 2025, filed by election watchdog Danilo Arao, a convenor of Kontra Daya.</p><p>Mananghaya-Henson said a memorandum in her office directed that, regardless of the outcome of the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) investigation into Marcoleta, the Ombudsman should conduct its own investigation on the matter.</p><p>The poll body earlier adopted the recommendations of its Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) to halt its fact-finding investigation on the senator in an en banc resolution dated March 18.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/23/comelec-ready-to-coordinate-with-ombudsman-on-plunder-indirect-bribery-cases-vs-marcoleta-1658">Comelec ready to ‘coordinate’ with Ombudsman on plunder, indirect bribery cases vs. Marcoleta</a></div><p>It also previously cleared Marcoleta of election offenses but ordered the filing of complaints against his alleged campaign donors.</p><p>Mananghaya-Henson said that regardless of the Comelec&#x27;s findings, there was probable cause to pursue criminal charges against Marcoleta because he was a sitting congressman when he received the donations, which she described as “excessive” and “disproportionate” to his income as a public official.</p><p>She noted that as of June 2025, Marcoleta’s declared assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) amounted to P51 million. </p><p>She added that his SALN, which covers declarations of cash and deposits from 1992 to 2025, should have reflected the P75 million donation as required by law, even if it had been converted into other forms of assets.</p><p>The director also pointed out that it would take a sitting congressman around 20 years to earn P75 million based on salary alone.</p><p>Moreover, Mananghaya-Henson said that in Marcoleta’s verified position paper, he did not declare any relationship with the donors, whom she claimed were aware that he was a public official.</p><p>“As public officials, someone with high influence as Marcoleta, any gift he receives may be tainted and [could affect] impartiality,” Mananghaya-Henson told the court.</p><p>Leilani Tagulao-Marquez, officer-in-charge of the Preliminary Investigation, Administrative Adjudication, and Prosecution Bureau of the Office of the Ombudsman, also testified during the hearing.</p><p>When asked by the court if Marcoleta could still be considered a flight risk following his recent appointment as Senate Blue Ribbon Committee vice chairperson, Tagulao-Marquez said this does not negate the possibility that he may evade investigation and prosecution.</p><p>She said that the fact-finding investigation on the matter has already concluded and is now under preliminary investigation.</p><p>Tagulao-Marquez added that orders were served on May 21 directing the respondents to submit their counter-affidavits within 15 days.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yVNmp3B2Yz8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Marcoleta on Wednesday said the<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/25/marcoleta-says-trumped-up-plunder-raps-meant-to-punish-dissent-1539"> “trumped-up” charges </a>against him were aimed at punishing dissent. </p><p>&quot;The complaint arrived while the Senate is confronted with uncomfortable truths: namely, the pending continuation of the investigation of the anomalous flood control projects, the approaching constitutional burden of an impeachment trial, and the growing pressure upon its institution to surrender its independence through political maneuvering disguised as constitutional reform,&quot; Marcoleta said in a privileged speech.</p><p>&quot;The trumped-up charges filed against me and some of my friends are not merely legal accusations. They form part of a deeper and more nefarious design: to intimidate independent voices, to punish dissent and to warn every senator that the price of asking hard questions would lead to personal damnation,&quot; he said.</p><p>Meanwhile, Defensor earlier said he did not submit a Report of Contributions after making a P30 million donation to Marcoleta because the latter was not yet a candidate at that time. </p><p>“Ano yun eh, sometime January, early January. So, wala naman kaming need. Tsaka usually, pag ikaw ba nag-donate, di ba usually kandidato yung magsasabi sa ‘yo na, ‘Oy, pakiayos mo to, may kulang na ganito.’ Pero the fact is, yung kay Sen. Mercoleta, dismissed na. Ba&#x27;t naman kami ang makakasama sa kaso?” Defensor complained.  </p><p>“Parang akyat bahay di ba, tinulungan mong makaakyat. Yung pumasok sa bahay, walang kaso, yung nagtulak paakyat, may kaso. Ba&#x27;t ganun?” he added. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/19/defensor-decries-double-standard-in-looming-election-complaint-vs-marcoleta-campaign-donors-1556">Defensor decries ‘double standard’ in Comelec decision clearing Marcoleta, ordering complaint vs donors </a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NMFdVXkGbt4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-8L2B4BGwFU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BPcEt60NnaM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Sandiganbayan said on Tuesday that the Office of the Ombudsman’s application for precautionary hold departure orders (PHDO) against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray has been submitted for resolution.</p>

The Sandiganbayan said on Tuesday that the Office of the Ombudsman’s application for precautionary hold departure orders (PHDO) against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray has been submitted for resolution.

Sandiganbayan: PHDO application vs Marcoleta, Defensor submitted for resolution

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Sandiganbayan: PHDO application vs Marcoleta, Defensor submitted for resolution

Kaxandra Salonga,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 26, 2026 01:30 PM PHT

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