Metro, Manila, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has cleared Senator Rodante Marcoleta of any election offense despite his failure to disclose ₱75 million in campaign contributions in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) for the 2025 senatorial race.
In a resolution released Wednesday, March 18, the Comelec en banc adopted the recommendation of its Political Finance and Affairs Department to terminate the investigation into Marcoleta, citing a lack of evidence to establish that he committed any election offense.
”Nevertheless, this investigation has established the fact that [the] respondent did not comply [with] Section 109 of the Omnibus Election Code,” the department recommendation read.
It explained that while Section 109 requires the disclosure of contributors’ names, addresses, dates, and amounts in the SOCE, violations of this provision are not classified as election offenses, having been decriminalized under Republic Act 7166.
However, the poll body said the same jurisprudence does not apply to Marcoleta’s contributors, who failed to submit their respective reports of contributions.
The Comelec en banc also approved the recommendation to launch a preliminary investigation into the contributors.
In a chance interview, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body also upheld Marcoleta’s defense that the contributions were received more than a month before the start of the campaign period — meaning he was not yet considered a candidate and had accepted the money as personal funds — in line with a Supreme Court ruling.
“Aaminin po namin na talagang ito’y makaka-weaken, maaaring makapagpahina ng aming mandato… pwede kasing palabasin na yung lahat ng mga donasyon ay naibigay sa panahon na hindi pa kandidato,” Garcia said.
“Balewala na rin dahil hindi naman kasong kriminal,” he added.
”Sana po ay ma-resolve iyan ng legislation,” he also said.
[Translation: We admit that this could weaken our mandate… because it might create the impression that all donations can be given at a time when a person is not yet a candidate. In any case, it would not matter as much since this is not a criminal offense. We hope this will be addressed through legislation.]
The resolution was signed by all seven commissioners, with Garcia inhibiting from the case to avoid allegations of partiality citing his previous spat with Marcoleta.
