Ombudsman pushes plunder, bribery raps vs Sen. Marcoleta over P75M in undisclosed donations

₱75 million in campaign donations to a sitting senator, delivered on three consecutive days in January 2026, none of it disclosed in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures. On May 21, 2026, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and three co-respondents to file counter-affidavits within 15 days, advancing a Field Investigation Bureau complaint signed May 18 that recommends plunder under Republic Act 7080, indirect bribery under Article 211 of the Revised Penal Code, and violation of Presidential Decree 46. The complaint identifies the donors and the splits. Former Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Mike Defensor gave ₱30 million. Joseph Espiritu gave ₱25 million. Aristotle Viray gave ₱20 million. The three transfers were dated January 6, 8, and 9, 2026, in the run-up to the May 2025 senatorial cycle that put Marcoleta in the Senate. The Ombudsman cites the aggregate ₱75 million as a "gift" under the plunder statute, the threshold of which is ₱50 million in ill-gotten wealth amassed through a series of overt acts. The case originated at the Commission on Elections, which had been investigating Marcoleta's alleged non-disclosure of the donations in his SOCE before terminating its own probe. On May 23, 2026, Comelec said it was ready to assist the Ombudsman with documentary records from the election filings. In a privilege speech in the Senate on May 25, 2026, Marcoleta framed the complaint as a political weapon, declaring "I will not be silenced" and linking the timing to his role in the flood control investigation and the looming impeachment trial of VP Sara Duterte. He called the charges "trumped-up" and "a warning shot fired at those who refuse to kneel." He has not contested the underlying donation figures. Defensor told The Manila Times the complaint was "completely baseless" and "built on assumptions and speculation," that he and the other respondents were "prepared to fully defend" themselves, and that "when facts, not politics, assumptions, or publicity, are examined, the truth will prevail." He has not disputed giving Marcoleta ₱30 million. Espiritu and Viray had not commented publicly. Malacañang said the prosecution was not political. On May 25, 2026, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Marcos administration had no role in the Ombudsman's filing and that the evidence came from Marcoleta's own Statement of Contributions and Expenditures and Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.