Perjury complaint filed against Marcoleta over 2025 election contributions

A perjury complaint has been filed against Senator Rodante Marcoleta before the Office of the Ombudsman over his public remarks that he did not fully disclose the donors to his successful campaign for a Senate seat in 2025.

Election watchdog group Kontra Daya, led by Danilo Arao and Advocates of Public Interest Law Alexander Lacson and Dino de Leon, filed the complaint on Friday, December 5, in connection with the statements Marcoleta made in a television interview on November 7.

“By his own admission, respondent publicly acknowledged receiving campaign contributions for the May 12, 2025 senatorial elections, but deliberately declared zero contributions in his sworn SOCE (Statement of Contributions and Expenditures)," the complaint read.

"These acts constitute Perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes any person who, having taken an oath before a competent officer, willfully and deliberately asserts a falsehood upon a material matter,” the complaint read, referring to (SOCE),” it added.

“This admission shows that he consciously chose to declare zero contributions precisely to avoid disclosing his donors, despite knowing that the law required him to do so," the complaint said.

"His use of 'mapipilitan' reflects not coercion, but a recognition of a legal duty he intentionally decided to evade. Respondent's explanation that his donors asked him to treat their contributions as "utang na loob" further confirms that the concealment was deliberate,” it added.

GMA News Online has reached out to Marcoleta for comment and will update the story as soon as it is available.

Marcoleta was quoted as saying in the interview, “Ngayon kapag naglagay ka ng figure sa contribution, mapipilitan akong magdisclose ng pangalan nila. Alam mo  kung bakit? Mayroong kaakibat na kung tawagin ay Deed of Acceptance of Donation."

"Mapipilitan ako ngayon na gawing zero 'yun. Dahil pag nilagyan ko ng amount 'yun, mapipilitan akong isa-isa kayong ididisclose ... ang inyong identity.”

(Now, if you put a figure on the contribution, I will be forced to disclose their names. Do you know why? There is something called a Deed of Acceptance of Donation." "Now I will be forced to make it zero. Because if I put an amount on that, I will be forced to disclose each of you ... your identity.)

The complainants also cited Section 10 of the Omnibus Election Code which states that “every candidate and treasurer of the political party should, not later than seven days, or earlier than 10 days before the day of the election, file in duplicate with the office indicated in the following section, [the] full, true, and itemized statement of all contributions  and  expenditures in connection with the election.”

The same law also provides that, within 30 days after the day of the election, the candidate and treasurer should also file in duplicate a supplemental statement of all contributions and expenditures not included in the statement filed prior to the day of the election.

“Respondent was fully aware of the materiality of these disclosures. As a lawyer and long-time public official, he understood that contributions and donor identities are facts that must be truthfully stated under oath,” the complaint said.

“He knew the legal consequences of submitting a false sworn statement, but he nonetheless elected to misrepresent his contributions to shield his donors from being identified,” it added.

The complainants said that since Marcoleta filed his SOCE on June 10, there has been no issue raised as to its form or due execution.

“It is accordingly presumed to have been regularly notarized in accordance with Comelec requirements and the Rules on Notarial Practice,” the complaint said.

“His professional background forecloses any claim of confusion or inadvertence. Accordingly, the elements of perjury are satisfied,” it added. –With Sundy Locus/NB, GMA Integrated News

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