A YouTube channel notorious for peddling disinformation is claiming that the Supreme Court has acquitted Sen. Rodante Marcoleta of a non-bailable plunder case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on July 3 involving an alleged undeclared P75 million in campaign donations received while previously a sitting party-list representative. Not true.
The video, posted on the same day by a channel masquerading as a “news insider,” displayed in its thumbnail a composite photo of Marcoleta, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In the middle is a photo of the high court, showing SC justices including Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo. An overlaid text alleged:
“PLUNDER CASE DEPEKTIBO! DISMISSED SA KORTE SUPREMA KUMPIRMADONG NOT GUILTY ANG HATOL MARCOLETA PANALO! PAHIYA SI REMULLA! (Plunder case defective! Dismissed by the Supreme Court. Not guilty verdict confirmed! Marcoleta triumphs! Remulla humiliated!)”
It was titled:
“IYAK si REMULLA! PLUNDER CASE vs MARCOLETA KUMPIRMADONG DEPEKTIBO B1NASURA (sic) sa K0RTE?!! (sic) BIG GOODNEWS (Remulla in tears! Plunder case versus Marcoleta confirmed defective, dismissed by the Court?!! This is big good news)!”
The Supreme Court cannot dismiss Marcoleta’s plunder case, which was filed at the Sandiganbayan, a special anti-graft court having jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases against public officials.
The senator’s case has not reached the high court as the Sandiganbayan has yet to arraign and conduct trial before releasing a verdict on it. What the anti-graft court’s Third Division issued on July 6 were warrants of arrest against Marcoleta and three of his campaign donors: former Anakalusugan representative Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Varia Espiritu and Aristotle Baluyut Viray.
Within that day, all accused were arrested and placed under the custody of the authorities.
The 72-year-old Marcoleta was taken to the Philippine National Police General Hospital after complaining of chest pain and hypertension, and would possibly stay there for up to two days to undergo a series of medical tests to determine his fitness for detention. Meanwhile, Defensor and Espiritu have been committed to the Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory.
The fraudulent video suspiciously surfaced on the day Ombudsman representatives filed plunder charges against Marcoleta and three of his campaign donors.
They were also charged with violations of the 1972 Presidential Decree No. 46, which punishes public officials from receiving, and private persons from giving, gifts on any occasion.
“This was not a decision made lightly or by choice. The evidence includes three cash donations totaling P75 million, undeclared in the senator’s [Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth] and campaign finance reports,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.
Marcoleta reportedly received the P75 million on three separate occasions in January 2025, when he was still the SAGIP party-list’s representative at the House, and prior to the official campaign period for the May 2025 elections.
The video with untrue claims, uploaded by pro-Duterte YouTube account PH NEWS UPDATE (created on Dec. 26, 2015 and previously named PINAS NEWS INSIDER), has so far garnered 4,600 reactions; 427 comments and 58,599 views. At least five users cross-posted the link to the video on Facebook.
