Robin Padilla: I've never met anyone as decent as Marcoleta

MANILA, Philippines — “Wala pa po akong nakilalang isang disenteng tao na katulad ni Sen. Rodante Marcoleta (I have never met anyone as decent as Sen. Rodante Marcoleta).”

This was how Sen. Robinhood Padilla described fellow minority Sen. Rodante Marcoleta when he arrived just before the third and final day of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally ended on Thursday.

“Marcoleta has never flaunted the fact that he is a lawyer. When he explains the law, everyone understands,” Padilla said, speaking Filipino.

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READ: ‘Message sent’: Iglesia ends mass action  for Marcoleta on third day

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Padilla then took a swipe at some of his colleagues in the Senate.

“Marami akong kasamahan sa Senado, mga abo-gago! [I have many colleagues in the Senate, they are abo-gago],” he said, using a derogatory play on the Filipino word abogado (lawyer) by blending it with gago, a Filipino insult roughly translating to jerk.

During the rally, members of the religious group publicly expressed support for Marcoleta after the Office of the Ombudsman announced it would file a plunder case against him.

They denounced the case against Marcoleta, a member of INC, calling it an example of “selective justice.”

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READ: TIMELINE: What led to Rodante Marcoleta’s plunder case

Later in his speech, Padilla claimed members of the Senate minority were being targeted and said that he himself could soon face arrest over the obstruction of justice complaint filed against him for allegedly helping Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa evade authorities.

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“Iniisa-isa na po kami. Hindi po magtatagal, maiisyuhan na naman ako [They’re picking us off one by one. It won’t be long before I’m charged again),” he said.

READ: PNP: Obstruction raps vs Padilla unaffected by returned complaint

He added that he did not know whether he would face proceedings in the Philippines or before the International Criminal Court (ICC), where dela Rosa’s warrant was from.

On Friday, the Ombudsman filed the said complaint against Marcoleta before the Sandiganbayan.

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Meanwhile, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, also from the Senate minority, remains detained over a nonbailable plunder charge. He is also under a 90-day preventive suspension ordered by the Sandiganbayan while his case is pending. /jpv