06/07/2026
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06/07/2026
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Philippine Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, (center), is escorted by police at the Sandiganbayan special anti-graft court as being arrested for alleged plunder, a non-bailable offense, in Quezon City, Philippines on July 6. (AP)
MANILA, Philippines, July 6, (AP): A Philippine senator was arrested Monday and charged under the country's anti-corruption statutes, becoming the latest member of the upper legislative chamber to be arrested in more than a month over suspicion of large-scale graft.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who denies committing any wrongdoing, was taken into police custody at the Sandiganbayan special anti-graft court in suburban Quezon city, where he went with his lawyers to question the charges and seek a delay in his arrest.
Marcoleta was accused of plunder, a charge under Philippine laws for illegally amassing huge amounts of money through a series of criminal acts. A plunder charge does not allow for bail.
"Let’s respect that,” Marcoleta, a 72-year-old lawyer, said outside the courtroom, referring to the court’s decision to order his arrest based on a preliminary finding on his case. He was later whisked away by police officers.
Marcoleta belongs to Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, which staged a three-day rally by more than 15,000 members in a democracy shrine along metropolitan Manila’s busiest main road to protest the filing of charges against him and his impending arrest. The rally sparked a huge traffic jam.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. canceled two official engagements outside his office Tuesday due to alarm over the protest by the religious group, which known for its ability to organize huge rallies.
The Office of the Ombudsman, a special anti-graft prosecutor, said it filed the plunder charge against Marcoleta last week for receiving 75 million pesos ($1.2 million) in what were supposed to be campaign contributions from three supporters that he did not declare in his assets statement as required by law.
Two of the three donors, including former House of Representatives member Mike Defensor, also were arrested Monday, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Early last month, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a political ally of Marcoleta, was arrested and detained also on a nonbailable charge of plunder for allegedly pocketing a huge kickback in a flood-control project.
Estrada, 63, has strongly denied allegations mainly by a former government public works engineer, that he received more than 570 million pesos ($9.3 million) in kickbacks from flood control projects.
