Comelec: Marcoleta’s campaign donation case jurisdiction already exercised

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already exercised its jurisdiction over Senator Rodante Marcoleta’s P75 million campaign donation case, which later became the basis of a plunder case, Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia said. This was in response to Marcoleta’s stance that his case should be returned to the poll body, which he raised during a hearing at the Sandiganbayan Third Division last Thursday. Garcia said the poll body’s jurisdiction is different from other agencies, noting that it handles cases related to campaign donations, contributions, and expenditures. "We already exercised our jurisdiction and we determined if the involved individual has a liability so whatever jurisdiction other agencies have can answer this," Garcia told reporters in an interview. In March, the Comelec en banc adopted the poll body’s Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) recommendation to terminate the investigation on Marcoleta’s campaign donation case “as there being no other evidence to show that the respondent committed any election offense.” The case at the Comelec level stemmed from Marcoleta’s admission in a television show that he did not declare campaign contributions upon the request of his contributors to remain anonymous. In his affidavit last January, Marcoleta told the Comelec that while he received P75 million from three donors on three separate occasions, he said he received them well before the start of the campaign period for the national candidates of the 2025 midterm elections. In its findings, the PFAD said that Republic Act No. 7166, or the Synchronized National and Elections Act, repeals Section 109 of the Omnibus Elections Code as an election offense, which requires the full disclosure of the amount of contributions and expenditures. However, the repeal of Section 109 of the OEC only applies to the candidates, and not to the donors. Thus, the PFAD earlier recommended filing a complaint against Marcoleta’s donors, namely former lawmaker Mike Defensor, Joseph Varias Espiritu, and Aristotle Baluyut Viray, for their failure to submit their respective individual reports of contributions. Meanwhile, Garcia said that the Comelec is open to once again handling the campaign donation case of the senator. "If the case is returned to us, there is no problem. The Comelec will exercise its jurisdiction, but again, we already performed our duty. We already exercised our jurisdiction and therefore as far as we are concerned, we are done in exercising our jurisdiction," he expressed. Marcoleta and his campaign donors were arrested last July over the plunder case.