Comelec ends Marcoleta probe

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) cleared Senator Rodante D. Marcoleta of potential election offenses involving campaign finance disclosures from the 2025 national and local elections.

In a resolution on Wednesday, the Comelec en banc terminated its motu proprio investigation after finding no evidence that he committed a punishable election offense.

“Terminate this investigation as there being no other evidence to show that respondent committed any election offense,” the poll body said.

The investigation into Mr. Marcoleta, who placed sixth in the 2025 senatorial race with over 15 million votes, was initiated after Comelec noted a discrepancy between his statement of contributions and expenditures and his declared personal wealth.

Mr. Marcoleta argued that the P75 million in contributions he received were not subject to disclosure requirements because they were accepted more than a month before the campaign period, meaning he was not yet legally considered a candidate and the money constituted personal funds.

“Nevertheless, this investigation has established the fact that respondent did not comply with Section 109 of the Omnibus Election Code,” the Comelec said. 

It adopted the recommendations of its Political Finance and Affairs Department, noting that the three alleged donors remain legally obliged to file their reports.

“File a complaint for election offense before the Law Department for the requisite conduct of preliminary investigation against the three contributors of the respondent due to their failure to submit their respective individual Report of Contributions within thirty (30) days after the elections,” the Comelec said. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking