Marcoleta pleads not guilty to bribery charges, corruption trial proceeds

Senator Rodante Marcoleta and former congressman Mike Defensor on Wednesday pleaded not guilty before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division to charges of violating Presidential Decree (PD) No. 46, which prohibits government officials from accepting, and private individuals from conferring, gifts to them. An arraignment marks the formal start of criminal trial proceedings, requiring the accused to appear in court, where the charges are read before they enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. READ: Marcoleta pleads not guilty to plunder, 1 of 3 ‘gift’ raps The counsels of Marcoleta and Defensor manifested before the Fourth Division that they are willing to waive the right to read the case information against them. Associate Justice Frederick Musngi, the Fourth Division chair, asked Marcoleta and Defensor if they are fully aware of the nature of the accusations against them, and both responded in the affirmative. Musngi also noted that neither Marcoleta nor Defensor had moved to consolidate this case in another division. One count of Marcoleta’s PD No. 46 and his plunder case are consolidated before the Third Division. Musngi said the court scheduled the pretrial of this case on August 12. State prosecutors filed before the Sandiganbayan three counts of violating PD No. 46 against Marcoleta. Marcoleta’s two other PD No. 46 cases are being handled by the Sandiganbayan’s First and Third Divisions. Aristotle Viray is Marcoleta’s co-accused in the case before the First Division, while Joseph Espiritu is his co-accused in the case before the Third Division. Earlier, Marcoleta and Espiritu pleaded not guilty to charges of violating PD No. 46 before the Sandiganbayan Third Division. A non-bailable plunder charge was also handled by the Sandiganbayan Third Division against Marcoleta, Espiritu and businessmen Espiritu and Viray, over a P75 million campaign donation the senator received while being a sitting party-list lawmaker, which, according to state prosecutors, was not declared in the senator’s financial and campaign disclosures. Of the said donation, P30 million came from Defensor, P25 million from Espiritu, and P20 million from Viray. /jpv