Standing before Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members gathered for the closing stretch of their three-day rally on Thursday, Sen. Robinhood Padilla singled out fellow minority bloc member Sen. Rodante Marcoleta for an unusually personal tribute.
“Wala pa po akong nakilalang isang disenteng tao na katulad ni Sen. Rodante Marcoleta.”
Padilla, delivering his remarks in Filipino, credited Marcoleta with a rare gift for making legal concepts accessible without ever calling attention to his own credentials as a lawyer.
That compliment set up a jab at others in the chamber. “Marami akong kasamahan sa Senado, mga abo-gago!” he said, twisting the Filipino word for lawyer, abogado, together with gago, a common insult.
The senator’s appearance came against the backdrop of the Ombudsman’s move to pursue a plunder case against Marcoleta, an INC member. Rally participants had rallied behind him during the gathering, framing the prosecution as “selective justice” aimed at their fellow believer.
Padilla went further, arguing that the entire Senate minority had become a target. He raised the prospect of his own arrest, pointing to the obstruction of justice complaint accusing him of aiding Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in avoiding authorities.
“Iniisa-isa na po kami. Hindi po magtatagal, maiisyuhan na naman ako,” he told the crowd. Whether any case against him would proceed domestically or reach the International Criminal Court — the body behind dela Rosa’s warrant — was something he said he could not predict.
The complaint against Marcoleta reached the Sandiganbayan the following day, Friday, when the Ombudsman formally filed it.
Another minority figure, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, is currently held on a nonbailable plunder charge and is serving a 90-day preventive suspension imposed by the Sandiganbayan as his own case moves forward.
