Poll watchdog Kontra Daya on Friday cautioned that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) decision to end its investigation into Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta’s campaign finance disclosures could weaken transparency safeguards ahead of future polls.
Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao said the ruling may erode public confidence in statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs) filed by candidates.
“The COMELEC’s decision en banc sets a very dangerous precedent because it sends the wrong message to the people that the SOCE is practically a useless document,” Arao said in a television interview.
The poll body earlier cleared Marcoleta of election offenses related to his SOCE, despite noting incomplete disclosures, and instead directed its law department to pursue complaints against three of his donors for failing to submit contribution reports.
Arao warned that the decision could embolden wealthy candidates to evade scrutiny.
“It sends very good signals for the rich and powerful that they can get away with fraud. They don’t really need to properly disclose their donors as long as they request anonymity and for as long as they do so before the beneficiaries of the donation become candidates,” he said.
“It’s very, very telling of the kind of elections that we will be having in 2028, which is very unfortunate.”
Kontra Daya emphasized that all election-related funds must be properly declared, pointing to discrepancies in Marcoleta’s filings.
Records showed the senator spent ₱112.8 million during the 2025 senatorial race despite declaring a net worth of ₱51.9 million and reporting zero campaign contributions.
“If we leave as is his pronouncement that he had zero campaign contributions, it means that he had ₱112 million at his disposal at the time when he conducted his campaign in the senatorial race,” Arao said, describing the situation as “very much weird.”
Arao also criticized what he described as a lack of transparency in COMELEC’s handling of the case, noting that Marcoleta’s counter-affidavit was not made public. He questioned why only the first page of candidates’ SOCEs had been uploaded online.
“Bakit page one lang? Bakit hindi i-disclose ‘yung buong dokumento? These are supposed to be public documents,” he said.
Kontra Daya added that its separate complaints filed before the COMELEC and the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2025 remain unresolved, with no update yet on which division will handle the case.