Ombudsman to file plunder charges vs Rodante Marcoleta

Plunder charges will be filed this week against Senator Rodante Marcoleta, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Monday, according to GMA News reporter Joseph Morong.

BREAKING: Ombudsman Boying Remulla says it will file plunder charges vs Sen. Rodante Marcoleta this week @gmanews @24orasgma pic.twitter.com/kMboowmJir

— Joseph Morong 🇵🇭 (@Joseph_Morong) June 29, 2026

The charges to be filed with the Sandiganbayan are in connection with Marcoleta's undeclared campaign contributions worth around P75 million.

“It's [against] Senator Marcoleta, definitely. It is for Resolution. We're about to file it before the Sandiganbayan. It’s plunder,” Remulla said in a press conference.

Remulla said that aside from Marcoleta, others who will be facing the same case are former lawmaker Mike Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Varias Espiritu and Aristotle Baluyut Viray.

Ombudsman prosecutors have said that while Marcoleta had publicly stated in interviews that he received P75 million in campaign donations, the amount was not reflected in his 2025 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) or his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) for his 2025 Senate bid.

The Ombudsman also said the donor’s tax for the P75 million was paid only in December 2025, which prosecutors argued was belated and indicative of concealment.

"By taking undue advantage of his official position as then representative of the Social Amelioration and Genuine Intervention on Poverty (SAGIP) party-list and the influence he wielded as a congressman, respondent Marcoleta unjustly enriched himself at the expense and prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines when he accepted such excessive sum of money from respondents Defensor, Viray and Espiritu,” the Ombudsman said.

“By accepting money from private individuals amounting to P75 million, he fell short of upholding the standard of responsibility and integrity," the Ombudsman added.

According to the Ombudsman, Marcoleta received the P75 million on three separate occasions:

• Jan. 6, 2025 — P30 million
• Jan. 8, 2025 — P25 million
• Jan. 9, 2025 — P20 million

“The amount of P75 million was amassed and acquired by respondent Marcoleta in three separate occasions through unjust enrichment that clearly form a series or pattern directed toward the common goal or scheme of unlawfully enriching himself at the expense of the public," the Ombudsman said.

The Sandiganbayan earlier issued a precautionary hold departure order against Marcoleta, Defensor, Espitiru and Viray over the alleged P75 million donation that Marcoleta received ahead of the 2025 midterm polls.

GMA News Online contacted Marcoleta's office for comment, but it has yet to issue a statement. —with a report from Sundy Locus/KG, GMA News