Senator Rodante Marcoleta. (PNA photo by Robert Alfiler)
Senator Rodante Marcoleta declined to enter a plea Monday in one of three cases accusing him of violating a decree that bars public officials from accepting gifts.
Marcoleta’s lawyer, Moises Tolentino Jr., told the Sandiganbayan First Division that the senator would not enter a plea because related petitions remained pending before the Supreme Court.
The anti-graft court entered a not guilty plea on Marcoleta’s behalf, as required when an accused refuses to plead.
His co-accused, Aristotle Viray, separately pleaded not guilty to the charge under Presidential Decree No. 46.
The case was linked to campaign donations Marcoleta allegedly received while serving as a party-list lawmaker and running for the Senate.
Marcoleta faced two similar cases before the Sandiganbayan Third and Fourth divisions, with Joseph Espiritu and former Rep. Mike Defensor named as his co-accused.
Marcoleta, Espiritu and Defensor had entered not guilty pleas in the separate cases handled by the other divisions.
The Third Division was also handling a non-bailable plunder case against Marcoleta, Defensor, Espiritu and Viray over Php 75 million in campaign donations that prosecutors said were not declared in his financial and campaign records.
