Detained Senator Rodante Marcoleta told reporters on July 28 that his imprisonment extends beyond himself, arguing that the Filipino public is also being denied answers in the cases weighing on him and the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Speaking on the sidelines of a preliminary conference on his plunder case at the Sandiganbayan, the senator said his detention has not diminished his standing in the Senate and that the broader public bears the cost of the proceedings around him.
“Nalulungkot ako sapagkat hindi lang ako ang nakakulong, ang nakakulong dito ang taumbayan, yung kanilang hinahanap na katotohanan na hanggang ngayon ay hindi naibibigay sa kanila na ngayon ay nakakubli ang mga taong may kagagawan nito,” Marcoleta said, according to SunStar. He argued the people are being kept from a truth they have long sought while those responsible remain concealed.
The remark came as Marcoleta pressed the Senate impeachment court to find a way for him and fellow detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada to take part in Duterte’s trial. He maintained that being behind bars does not remove him as one of the chamber’s 24 members, telling reporters that the number can change only through death, resignation, or a senator’s inability to perform their duties, as the Daily Tribune reported.
The manifestation is not Marcoleta’s first bid to remain part of the proceedings. Impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero disclosed on July 20 that he had received a letter from the senator asking that his vote be counted, citing a precedent from the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada that allowed a senator unable to appear in person to still cast a vote, Manila Bulletin reported. Escudero deferred action and referred the matter to the Senate sitting as a legislative body, which can amend the rules of the impeachment court.
Marcoleta was arrested on July 6, hours before Duterte’s impeachment trial formally opened, after the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant over a plunder case tied to P75 million in campaign donations that state prosecutors say he failed to declare. He is detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas alongside Estrada, who faces separate charges linked to the flood control projects scandal.
The senator’s allies have framed both cases as politically motivated. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who leads the bloc that includes the two detained senators, has repeatedly called for them to be allowed to attend the trial, describing them as political prisoners.
