By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc on Wednesday terminated the investigation against Senator Rodante Marcoleta on the reported inconsistencies in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) in the May 2025 polls for lack of evidence.
In a seven-page resolution, the en banc, voting 6-0-1, said it found no evidence that he supposedly committed an election offense.
Marcoleta was investigated over his alleged non-disclosure of election donors on his SOCE.
The Comelec ordered its Law Department to conduct an investigation against three contributors of Marcoleta during the May 2025 midterm polls for failure to submit their report of contributions, one month after the national polls.
The contributors were Michael Tan Defensor, Joseph Varias Espiritu, and Aristotle Baluyut Viray.
Marcoleta earlier admitted that he did not divulge the names of some of his campaign contributors in the last polls after they requested to be anonymous.
Section 99 of the Omnibus Election Code requires candidates to report donations and expenses during the campaign period. (PNA)
