A witness from the Office of the Ombudsman testified before the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Thursday that Senator Rodante Marcoleta personally solicited campaign donations from businessman Aristotle Viray, a longtime friend, in connection with the P75‑million plunder case filed against him and three co‑accused.
“It was accused Marcoleta who actually solicited [the donation],” Field Investigation Bureau Director Maria Melinda Mananghaya-Henson of the Office of the Ombudsman said when asked by Sandiganbayan Third Division chairperson Karl Miranda about the defense of Viray as stated in the latter’s counter affidavit submitted before the Ombudsman.
The testimony was made during the bail hearing for Marcoleta, Viray, former Anakalusugan party‑list Rep. Michael Defensor, and Joseph Espiritu.
Henson earlier said part of the donor’s tax for the P75‑million campaign donation was paid by Marcoleta’s employee, Ebenezer Santos. She added that the Deeds of Donation were belatedly notarized in November 2025, despite the funds being given in January 2025, and that the donor’s tax was only settled in December 2025 — signs of concealment, according to prosecutors.
Marcoleta previously admitted in a November 2025 television interview that he received the donation but did not declare it as campaign expenditure, citing the donors’ request for anonymity. However, in his position paper to the Commission on Elections, he claimed the amount was his personal fund, leading the poll body to halt its probe. This discrepancy formed part of the Ombudsman’s basis for filing charges.
The plunder case stems from allegations that Marcoleta and his co‑accused colluded to hide the undeclared campaign donation, with prosecutors pointing to inconsistencies in the senator’s accounts and delayed documentation. # (ZIA LUNA)
