Another Philippine senator was arrested on allegations of plunder Monday, becoming the latest member of the upper legislative chamber to be taken into custody in more than a month over suspicion of large-scale corruption. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who denies committing any wrongdoing, was taken into police custody at the Sandiganbayan special anti-graft court in suburban Quezon city where he went with his lawyers to question the charges against him and seek a delay in the enforcement of his arrest.
"Let's respect that," Marcoleta, a 71-year-old lawyer, told reporters outside the courtroom, referring to the court's decision to order his arrest based on a preliminary finding on his case. He was later whisked away by police officers. A plunder charge does not allow for bail.
Marcoleta belongs to Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, which staged a three-day rally by more than 15,000 members in a democracy shrine along metropolitan Manila's busiest main road to protest the filing of charges against him and his impending arrest. The rally sparked a huge traffic jam.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. cancelled two official engagements outside his office Tuesday due to alarm over the protest by the religious group, which known for its ability to organize huge rallies.
The Office of the Ombudsman, a special anti-graft prosecutor, said it filed the plunder charge against Marcoleta last week for receiving 75 million pesos ($1.2 million) in what were supposed to be campaign contributions from three supporters that he did not declare in his assets statement as required by law.
Early last month, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a political ally of Marcoleta, was arrested and detained also on a non-bailable charge of plunder for allegedly pocketing a huge kickback in a flood-control project. Estrada, 63, has strongly denied allegations mainly by a former government public works engineer.