Graft Charges Hit Duterte Senator Days Before VP Impeachment Trial
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- Senator Rodante Marcoleta was charged with graft and plunder on July 3 by the Philippine ombudsman's office for allegedly failing to declare US$1.2 million (S$1.55 million) in unused election campaign funds, with plunder being a non-bailable offence.
- The ombudsman cited three cash donations totalling 75 million pesos (S$1.57 million) that were undeclared in Marcoleta's statement of assets and liabilities and campaign finance reports, noting the senator had 'publicly confirmed receiving the money.'
- Thousands of Iglesia Ni Cristo members protested in Manila on June 30 against the looming charges, with church spokesman Edwil Zabala calling the case 'selective justice' — the church has documented ties to the Duterte political dynasty.
- Senator Jose 'Jinggoy' Estrada, another Duterte ally, was jailed over his alleged role in a corruption scandal involving bogus flood control projects, making him the second Duterte-aligned senator charged in just over a month.
- Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa, a third Duterte ally, is in hiding after narrowly escaping arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant related to former president Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war.
- All three senators were considered near-certain votes against convicting Sara Duterte at her Senate impeachment trial beginning July 6, where a guilty verdict requires 16 of 24 votes — the charges threaten to drain that opposition bloc.
- The House of Representatives impeached Sara Duterte on May 11 on allegations of graft, corruption, bribery, and an alleged assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos; a conviction would remove her from office and permanently ban her from elected office.
Why it matters: Three of Sara Duterte's most reliable Senate defenders are now simultaneously facing criminal charges, ICC warrants, or imprisonment, potentially stripping her of the votes needed to survive impeachment — conviction requires 16 of 24 Senate votes, and her allies' legal troubles could reshape the trial's arithmetic within days of its July 6 start.
