Former Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor pleaded not guilty on Wednesday before the Sandiganbayan Third Division in Quezon City to a plunder charge tied to ₱75 million allegedly given to Sen. Rodante Marcoleta
for his 2025 Senate campaign.
During the same arraignment, businessmen Joseph Varias Espiritu and Aristotle Baluyut Viray also entered not guilty pleas. The Office of the Ombudsman accused Defensor of giving ₱30 million, Espiritu ₱25 million, and Viray ₱20 million to Marcoleta on separate dates in January 2025.
The Ombudsman said Marcoleta failed to disclose the contributions in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures and his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. It said his alleged acceptance and non-declaration of the funds constituted unjust enrichment and charged all four with plunder.
Three related counts were filed under Presidential Decree No. 46, which penalizes public officials who receive gifts because of their office and private individuals who give or offer them.
Meanwhile, Marcoleta’s arraignment remained deferred while the court considered his motion to quash the information. The Sandiganbayan said it would rule on his bid to dismiss the charge before setting hearings on his bail petition.
The court ordered Marcoleta transferred from the PNP General Hospital to the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas. He had been diagnosed with mild pneumonia and degenerative disc disease after his arrest.
Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi presented the medical team’s findings during Wednesday’s proceedings. Legaspi told the court that the doctors “unanimously agreed there is no finding or medical condition to require (Marcoleta’s) further hospitalization.”
The accused have consistently maintained that the charges are politically motivated and insisted on their innocence, while Defensor questioned why they were jailed ahead of those he has identified as the alleged masterminds behind corruption, including Martin Romualdez and Zaldy Co.
