A perjury complaint was filed against Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta before the Office of the Ombudsman over his admission that he did not fully disclose donors to his successful 2025 Senate campaign.
The complaint was filed on December 5 by election watchdog Kontra Daya, led by Danilo Arao, together with Advocates of Public Interest Law Alexander Lacson and Dino de Leon, citing statements Marcoleta made in a television interview on November 7.
“By his own admission, respondent publicly acknowledged receiving campaign contributions for the May 12, 2025 senatorial elections, but deliberately declared zero contributions in his sworn SOCE (Statement of Contributions and Expenditures),” the complaint read.
It further noted, “These acts constitute Perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes any person who, having taken an oath before a competent officer, willfully and deliberately asserts a falsehood upon a material matter.”
The complainants said, “This admission shows that he consciously chose to declare zero contributions precisely to avoid disclosing his donors, despite knowing that the law required him to do so.”
They added that his claim of treating contributions as “utang na loob” demonstrates the concealment was deliberate: “His use of ‘mapipilitan’ reflects not coercion, but a recognition of a legal duty he intentionally decided to evade.”
Marcoleta has yet to respond to the complaint.