Sen. Rodante Marcoleta arrives at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City for a hearing on the plunder case against him on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. —Photo by Jason Sigales/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on charges of plunder and violation of a presidential decree that prohibits government officials from receiving gifts before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division on Wednesday.

Marcoleta was supposed to be arraigned only on the charge of violating Presidential Decree (PD) No. 46 which prohibits government officials from receiving gifts and private individuals from giving these.

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However, his counsel Rodolfo Sabulao asked the court if the senator could also be arraigned for the charge of plunder “to expedite the proceedings.”

READ: Groups to Cayetano: Marcoleta, Estrada not political prisoners

Motion withdrawn

Sabulao also told the court that they were withdrawing their previous motion to quash the case against his client to pave the way for his arraignment.

Asked by Associate Justice Karl Miranda, the division chair, if the move was voluntary on his part, Marcoleta responded: “It was, your honor, as a matter of fact, we discussed this thoroughly with the counsels of coaccused.”

The charges against the senator are based on the P75 million in campaign donations he received for his 2025 senatorial bid. At that time, Marcoleta was still a member of the House of Representatives.

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The donors, who were slapped with the same charges in different divisions of the antigraft court, are Quezon City Rep. Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

READ: Lacson after Marcoleta’s PGH exam: ‘It’s a miracle!’

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Prosecutors said Marcoleta failed to disclose the campaign donations to the Commission on Elections and in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Defensor, Espiritu and Viray pleaded not guilty to the charge of plunder during their arraignment last week.

Along with Marcoleta, they are currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, Quezon City since plunder is a nonbailable offense.

In total, Marcoleta faces three counts of violation of PD No. 46 which are pending in the antigraft court’s Third, Fourth and First Divisions.

Viray is Marcoleta’s coaccused in the case pending before the First Division, Espiritu in the Third Division, and Defensor in the Fourth Division.

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The arraignment of Marcoleta and Defensor also took place on Wednesday before the Fourth Division, with the pair pleading not guilty to violating the presidential decree. /cb