MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine senator has been placed under arrest on large-scale plunder allegations, making him the second member of the country’s upper house to be detained in just over a month amid a sweeping corruption investigation.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, 71, a lawyer by profession, was taken into custody Monday at the Sandiganbayan, a special court dedicated to anti-corruption cases located in suburban Quezon City. He had arrived at the court alongside his legal team to challenge the charges filed against him and to request a postponement of his arrest.
Speaking to reporters gathered outside the courtroom, Marcoleta addressed the court’s decision to order his detention based on a preliminary review of the case. “Let’s respect that,” he said. He was subsequently escorted away by police. Because plunder is the charge against him, he is not entitled to post bail.
Marcoleta is a member of Iglesia ni Cristo, also known as the Church of Christ. The religious organization staged a three-day demonstration involving more than 15,000 members at a democracy landmark along one of metropolitan Manila’s most heavily traveled roads, protesting both the charges against Marcoleta and his anticipated arrest. The mass gathering caused significant traffic disruptions throughout the area.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called off two scheduled public engagements outside his office on Tuesday, citing concern over the large-scale protest mounted by the religious group, which has a well-established reputation for mobilizing massive demonstrations.
The Office of the Ombudsman, which serves as a specialized anti-corruption prosecutor, announced it filed the plunder charge against Marcoleta last week. According to the office, Marcoleta allegedly received 75 million pesos — equivalent to approximately $1.2 million — described as campaign contributions from three supporters, which he failed to report in his legally required financial disclosure statement.
Earlier last month, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a political ally of Marcoleta, was also arrested and held on a non-bailable plunder charge. Estrada, 63, is accused of collecting more than 570 million pesos — roughly $9.3 million — in kickback payments tied to a government flood-control project. He has firmly denied those accusations, which stem primarily from allegations made by a former government public works engineer.
Both Marcoleta and Estrada were known supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte. On Monday, the 24-member Senate, sitting in its capacity as an impeachment court, was set to begin the trial of Sara Duterte, who was impeached by a sweeping vote in the House of Representatives back in May. She has denied the charges against her, which include accumulating undeclared wealth and publicly threatening to have the president killed.
A third senator with close ties to the Duterte family, Ronald dela Rosa, has gone into hiding following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. The ICC named him as a co-perpetrator alongside the former president in connection with the killings of mostly low-income drug suspects during a violent anti-narcotics campaign carried out under Duterte’s watch. Dela Rosa previously served as the national police chief who initially implemented those crackdowns.
Former President Duterte himself was arrested last year on the ICC’s orders and transported to the Netherlands, where he is scheduled to stand trial on November 30 on charges of crimes against humanity.
