Marcoleta Posts Bail on Undeclared Donation Charges, Still Held on Separate Plunder Case
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta has posted ₱90,000 bail on charges tied to an undeclared ₱75-million campaign donation, though he remains in detention while a bail petition on a separate, non-bailable plunder charge is heard.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta has posted ₱90,000 in bail across three Sandiganbayan divisions over charges that he violated Presidential Decree 46, which bars public officials from accepting undisclosed gifts connected to their office — tied to an alleged ₱75 million in undeclared donations received during his 2025 senatorial campaign.
The PD 46 charges are bailable and now resolved through that bail posting. Marcoleta remains in detention, however, because he separately faces a plunder charge — a non-bailable offense under Philippine law — over the same underlying donations. His lawyers have filed a petition seeking bail on that charge as well, arguing the evidence against him does not meet the threshold required to deny bail in a plunder case.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division held the first hearing on that bail petition on September 3 and separately granted Marcoleta a one-day medical furlough on September 7 to undergo tests for hypertension and prostate enlargement at The Medical City in Pasig.
Marcoleta has maintained the campaign donations were lawful and has described the charges against him as politically motivated. The bail petition hearing on the plunder charge is ongoing.
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