MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s television remarks that prosecutors cite as key evidence in his P75-million plunder case played in the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Monday for the first time.
Prosecutor Joshua Tan asked the court to play the recording, and the court granted the request.
During his television program on Nov. 8, 2025, Marcoleta acknowledged that his “friends” gave him campaign contributions on the condition that he keep their identities confidential.
Marcoleta said in Filipino:
“My friends really gave me contributions. Do you know what their only request was? Just one: ‘Please accept our help’ — I was a congressman then — ‘Cong, we believe you deserve to reach the Senate, please accept this amount.’ There were many of them. They only had one request of me: that I would not disclose their identities.”
Marcoleta, former Rep. Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray face the plunder case over a P75-million campaign donation that Marcoleta allegedly received while he served as a party-list lawmaker.
Prosecutors allege that Marcoleta failed to declare the contribution in his financial and campaign disclosures.