By Aaron Recuenco
The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division issued a new arrest warrant on Wednesday, July 8, against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and former congressman Mike Defensor over alleged violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts and private individuals from giving them.
The case stems from accusations that Marcoleta, while serving as a congressman, accepted a cash donation from Defensor supposedly intended for election purposes.
The Fourth Division emphasized that the warrant was necessary to pursue accountability under PD 46, directing its sheriff to serve the order on Defensor, who is detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas, and Marcoleta, who remains under hospital arrest at Camp Crame.
Both men had earlier been arrested on July 6 under a separate warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division. The Fourth Division set bail at ₱30,000 each for the PD 46 case.
Meanwhile, related charges of PD 46 violation involving Marcoleta and another donor, Joseph Espiritu, were raffled to the Sixth Division.
However, the Sixth Division opted not to issue a separate warrant, ruling instead that the PD 46 charge was merely a component of Espiritu’s plunder case already pending before the Third Division.
Another co-accused, Aristotle Viray, also faces a PD 46 violation in a different division while being detained for plunder.
Viray and Espiritu are held at the New Quezon City Jail alongside Defensor.
