Philippine Senator Rodante Marcoleta was taken into police custody at the Sandiganbayan special anti-graft court in suburban Quezon City on July 6, 2026, after being charged with plunder under the country’s anti-corruption laws, according to the Associated Press.
Marcoleta, a 72-year-old lawyer, went to the court with his legal team to challenge the charge and request that his arrest be postponed. The court instead ordered his detention following a preliminary finding in the case. Outside the courtroom, Marcoleta said the decision should be respected before police officers removed him from the premises. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The Office of the Ombudsman, which serves as a special anti-graft prosecutor, alleged that Marcoleta received 75 million pesos, equivalent to about $1.2 million, from three supporters as purported campaign contributions. Prosecutors said he failed to report the money in his legally required statement of assets. Under Philippine law, plunder concerns the alleged accumulation of large sums through a series of criminal acts and is not eligible for bail.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said two of the three alleged donors were also arrested that Monday. One was former House of Representatives member Mike Defensor.
Arrest amid wider political tensions
Marcoleta is a member of Iglesia ni Cristo, also known as the Church of Christ. More than 15,000 members held a three-day demonstration at a democracy shrine beside metropolitan Manila’s busiest main road to oppose the case and his expected arrest. The gathering caused extensive traffic congestion. AP reported that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. canceled two official engagements outside his office on Tuesday because of concern surrounding the protest and the religious organization’s capacity to mobilize large crowds.
Marcoleta was the latest senator detained within a period of more than a month over suspected large-scale corruption. Senator Jinggoy Estrada, described by AP as his political ally, had been arrested early the previous month on a separate, non-bailable plunder charge. Estrada was accused of receiving more than 570 million pesos, or $9.3 million, in kickbacks connected to flood-control projects. He strongly denied allegations attributed primarily to a former government public works engineer.
Both senators supported former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte. On the day of Marcoleta’s arrest, the 24-member Senate was scheduled to begin acting as an impeachment court in Sara Duterte’s trial. The House of Representatives had impeached her by an overwhelming vote in May. She denied the alleged high crimes, which included accumulating undeclared wealth and publicly threatening to have the president assassinated.
Another Duterte ally in the Senate, Ronald dela Rosa, had gone into hiding after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant naming him as an alleged co-perpetrator in killings during Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Dela Rosa served as national police chief when the crackdown was initially enforced. The former president had been arrested the previous year under an ICC order and transferred to the Netherlands, with a trial on alleged crimes against humanity set for November 30.
