Comelec: No evidence Marcoleta committed election offense

The Commission on Elections en banc on Wednesday ordered the termination of the probe against Senator Rodante Marcoleta due to lack of evidence that he committed any election offense. 

Marcoleta was investigated over his alleged non-disclosure of election donors on his statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) for the 2025 May elections.

In a resolution, the poll commissioners adopted the recommendations of the Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) to terminate the probe against Marcoleta "as there being no other evidence to show that respondent committed any election offense."

The PFAD likewise recommended filing election offense complaints with the Law Department against the legislator’s donors — Michael Tan Defensor, Joseph Varias Espiritu, and Aristotle Baluyut Viray —  over their alleged failure to submit their respective individual report of contributions within 30 days after the elections. 

Six commissioners voted on the resolution with Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia inhibiting from the case. 

“Ang isang kandidato, base sa Republic Act No. 7166, na hindi nag-detalye nang dapat na idetalye na nire-require sa kaniya ng Section 109 [ng Omnibus Election Code] ay hindi na liable criminally. Maaaring may civil liability pero sa ating batas, administrative at pupwede lang pagbayarin depende sa position ng involved na respondent,” said Garcia in an ambush interview.

(RA No. 7166 decriminalized violating Section 109 of the OEC. There may be civil liabilities but under the law, it may only be administrative and violators may be asked to pay fines depending on their respective positions.)

“Ang sabi ng commissioners, ‘yung tatlo na nagbigay ay dapat ding kasuhan sa Law Department ng Comelec ng election offence sapagkat ang pagkaka-decriminalize nang hindi pagre-report ng tama ay hindi applicable sa mga hindi nag-donate,” he added. 

(The en banc also said the three donors should face election offence cases before the Comelec Law Department because the decriminalisation only applies to bets and not their contributors.)

It can be recalled the Comelec issued a show-cause order (SCO) against Marcoleta in November 2025, directing him to explain his public remarks that he did not declare certain election contributions in his SOCE because his donors had requested anonymity. 

In his verified position paper, Marcoleta said he received a total of P75 million from three individuals on three separate occasions over a month before the start of the campaign period for the 2025 May polls.

The solon, however, argued the donations were made before he was declared candidate pursuant to the Supreme Court jurisprudence on Penera vs. Comelec, making the contributions part of his personal funds and would not be deemed as funds covered by SOCE. 

According to the PFAD, Section 109 Omnibus Election Code (OEC) mandates candidates to fully-disclose the campaign donations they received as well as their election donors in their SOCEs. However, a later amendment to the OEC stipulated that violating it no longer constitutes an election offense. 

The PFAD underscored election donors are still required to submit their report of contribution as stated under Section 99 of the OEC. Failure to comply may constitute to an election offense. 

Based on his SOCE, the Marcoleta spent P139.9 million for his campaign in the midterm elections, higher than his declared SALN of P51,965,559.

Meanwhile,  Garcia clarified the cases related to Marcoleta’s SALN does not fall under Comelec jurisdiction. —AOL, GMA Integrated News