Detained Senator Rodante Marcoleta has mild pneumonia in addition to hypertension, based on the results of his chest X-ray at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital, ABS-CBN News reported.
The senator complained of chest pains and elevated blood pressure after his arrest on Monday, July 6, 2026, on a non-bailable plunder charge. As of the latest update, he remains unfit to travel or be transferred, and his confinement could extend through Wednesday until several additional tests are completed.
Marcoleta was brought to the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame shortly after his arrest, when his blood pressure spiked and he reported chest pains during booking procedures at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico said the senator was taken to the hospital as a precaution, with authorities citing his age of 72.
At the hospital, Marcoleta underwent a battery of examinations, including blood chemistry tests, an electrocardiogram, a chest X-ray, a 2D echocardiogram, and a cervical spine X-ray, according to Lt. Col. Benaly Bayani, chief of the PNP Health Service’s Internal Medicine Section. Bayani said Marcoleta is in stable condition but not medically fit to stand trial because of his fluctuating blood pressure, which she attributed to his hypertension. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, his blood pressure was recorded at 140/90 mmHg.
The senator was arrested after the Sandiganbayan Third Division denied his motion to quash the plunder case. He is accused of failing to declare P75 million in campaign donations he received during the 2025 election period in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. Marcoleta has maintained that the donations did not constitute public funds and had already been spent on election-related purposes.
Three co-accused — former Anakalusugan Representative Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray — were arrested the same day and committed to the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas. Defensor, Espiritu, and Viray donated P30 million, P20 million, and P25 million, respectively, to Marcoleta’s senatorial bid.
Vice President Sara Duterte, whose impeachment trial opened the day Marcoleta was arrested, visited the senator at the hospital on Tuesday morning. Bayani said only Marcoleta’s family members and legal counsel have been allowed to see him.
