Sandiganbayan to PNP: Bring Marcoleta to PGH for exam, then to court

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Monday ordered authorities to bring Sen. Rodante Marcoleta to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to be examined to determine if he still needs to be confined in the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH).

In a resolution dated July 13, the Third Division also required Marcoleta to appear before the court on Wednesday, July 15.

On July 6, the Third Division issued a warrant of arrest against Marcoleta and his three co-accused on Monday in connection with his plunder case over the P75 million campaign donation the senator received while being a sitting party-list lawmaker, which, according to state prosecutors, was not declared in his financial and campaign disclosures.

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READ: Ombudsman files plunder case vs Marcoleta in Sandiganbayan

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Instead of bringing him to a jail facility, Marcoleta was admitted to the PNPGH on the same date after complaining of chest pains and a diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure).

In view of this, the court ordered Marcoleta to be brought to PGH on Tuesday (July 14) at 12 noon.

The court made this directive to Col. John Guiagui, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group unit director for Metro Manila, and Lt. Col. Benaly Bayani, chief of the Internal Medicine Department at PNPGH.

READ: Sandiganbayan postpones Marcoleta, co-accused’s arraignment, pretrial

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PGH doctor Gerardo Legaspi will examine Marcoleta “if there is an imperative need for the continued confinement of the said accused” at the PNPGH.

Legaspi is then required to “testify on the circumstances and the result of the just-concluded medical tests” at Wednesday’s hearing of the Third Division, when the police are ordered to “produce and bring” Marcoleta.

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Aside from Marcoleta, also facing plunder cases are the senator’s three donors, namely, former Rep. Mike Defensor and two private citizens, businessmen Aristotle Viray and Joseph Espiritu.

To date, the police have already returned the arrest warrants of Defensor, Espiritu, and Viray, and handed them over to the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas since then.

The arraignment and pretrial of Marcoleta and his co-accused were initially scheduled on July 10, but it has been postponed due to their pending motions. /cb

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