Ombudsman spox: Plunder complaint not yet signed

Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic Clavano —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/TETCH TORRES-TUPAS

MANILA, Philippines — The plunder complaint that the Office of the Ombudsman was said to be preparing against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta—and which was cited as the Iglesia ni Cristo’s reason for mounting an unauthorized rally on Tuesday—was apparently not yet ready for filing after all.

This was according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, who on Tuesday gave an update on the case as the INC rally on Edsa caught the police by surprise and caused traffic jams on surrounding roads.

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“As mentioned by the Ombudsman yesterday (Monday), the resolution is in its final stages already, but he anticipates that the resolution may be signed and the information may be filed,” Clavano said.

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Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced on Monday that Marcoleta will be charged with plunder at the Sandiganbayan this week in connection with the P75 million in campaign donations that the senator received but did not declare in his asset statements.

READ: From endorsement to protest: Iglesia ni Cristo stands by Marcoleta

In May, the antigraft agency’s Luzon bureau recommended plunder and indirect bribery charges against the senator, a prominent INC member. The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon serves as the complainant.

“We don’t want to dictate upon the investigators and the panel as to when the Ombudsman gives them the prosecutorial independence to do that, but their last update to us is, [the case filing] is very, very near already,” Clavano added.

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READ: Marcoleta: Plunder case meant to keep me off Duterte impeach trial

Marcoleta, a former chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, denounced the impending filing of the nonbailable plunder case as politically motivated, claiming it was meant to stop his scrutiny of flood control projects and also his participation in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

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In response to Marcoleta, Clavano said, “the facts will speak for themselves.”

Fighting pressure

“When you read the case and you listen to the admissions and you listen to the interviews, you will see that the case is quite clear-cut,” Clavano said. “That’s why it’s hard to see where Senator Marcoleta is coming from because the evidence used by investigators came from him.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, also a former blue ribbon chair who replaced Marcoleta following a Senate reorganization, said he was confident that Ombudsman Remulla would not cave in to INC pressure.

“Ombudsman Boying is tough as a Caviteño will always be. I trust that he won’t cave in to the INC rallies and pressure—not today, not tomorrow and certainly not when Sen. Marcoleta’s plunder case is filed in court as earlier announced,” Lacson said in a post on X.

In another post on X, Lacson said the “INC’s curt defense of Senator Marcoleta is selective justice: If it’s true, then it is false. If it’s false, then it’s true. What a paradox.”

“His INC backers may block Edsa all they want and cause traffic jams and chaos to the discomfort of ordinary commuters. Surely, the Philippine National Police will be there to maintain peace and order,” Lacson added.

Private, public funds

Marcoleta, however, said the complaint was “legally insufficient” since the amount were not public funds, despite state prosecutors’ saying that the donated funds exceeded the P50 million threshold for plunder under Republic Act No. 7080 (Anti-Plunder Act).

But according to Clavano, it just happens that most plunder cases comprise public funds, but, “actually, and you will see it in the law, that even private funds can comprise the crime of plunder.”

“Direct bribery coming from a private individual can also be considered corruption,” he said. “So when there’s a series or combination of that, it can be called plunder.”

Aside from plunder, Marcoleta and his campaign donors, former Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor and businessmen Aristotle Viray and Joseph Espiritu, also face a bribery complaint for donating P30 million, P25 million and P20 million, respectively.

According to the complaint, the campaign donation of three donors breached the P50 million threshold for plunder, and they also said the senator should also be charged for indirect bribery “for accepting the gifts from private individuals, which although not given as consideration for a specific act, were actually given because of his position or potential influence as a public officer.”

“Public officials are not allowed to accept that kind of amount as a general rule, exception to the general rule is, if its campaign period and you are collecting money for the campaign,” Clavano said. “But in this case, he did not declare it to Soce (statement of contribution and expenditure) he did not declare it in SALN (statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth).”

“He just declared it in the public, the media, but actually, he should have put it either in his SALN or Soce,” he also said.

The complaint noted that Marcoleta only declared P39.6 million in his SALN, which he said he acquired from 1992 to June 30, 2025.

Marcoleta, in an interview with Net 25, admitted his “friends” gave him campaign contributions, in condition that their identities would not be disclosed.

In his counter-affidavit, the senator explained that the P75 million donation in January 2025 was already spent during the campaign, which is why he did not declare it in his SALN, while he said it was not reflected in his Soce submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) because the donation was made before the campaign period in February last year.

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The Comelec dismissed the election offense against Marcoleta, but the Office of the Ombudsman opened the probe against him. —WITH REPORTS FROM TINA G. SANTOS, AND INQUIRER RESEARCH