The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Saturday expressed its full willingness to assist the Office of the Ombudsman following reports that the anti-graft body has recommended filing plunder and indirect bribery charges against Senator Rodante Marcoleta.
COMELEC Chairperson George Erwin Garcia confirmed that while the poll body is prepared to cooperate with state prosecutors, its own internal probe into the lawmaker has already been resolved.
“Ready to help and coordinate ang COMELEC with Ombudsman. Sa end ng COMELEC, [dismissed] na ang moto proprio investigation laban kay Sen. Marcoleta,” Garcia said.
COMELEC is ready to help and coordinate with the Ombudsman. On COMELEC’s end, the motu proprio investigation against Sen. Marcoleta has already been dismissed.
When questioned about whether the poll body would reopen its own investigation into the senator, Garcia noted that such a move is currently not on the table.
“With regards sa pag-revive ng kaso, hindi pa naiisip ng COMELEC. Wala rin naman daw kasing Motion for Reconsideration (MR) na natanggap ang poll body,” he added.
With regards to reviving the case, COMELEC is not thinking about it yet. The poll body also has not received any Motion for Reconsideration.
The controversy began after Marcoleta admitted in a television interview that he did not disclose several campaign contributions during the 2025 midterm elections, claiming his donors wished to remain anonymous.
The senator defended his actions by invoking the Peñera doctrine—a landmark legal precedent dictating that an individual is only legally considered a candidate at the official start of the campaign period.
Marcoleta argued that because the donations were received a month prior to the campaign timeline, the money had technically transitioned into his “personal funds.”
While COMELEC cleared Marcoleta of direct election offenses last March based on this legal distinction, the poll body did not let the donors off the hook. It ordered the filing of formal complaints against three of his alleged 2025 campaign benefactors, including former Anakalusugan Party-list Representative Mike Defensor.