Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Thursday commended the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) for submitting an independent medical report on detained Senator Rodante Marcoleta to the Sandiganbayan, seizing on the apparent turnaround in the embattled lawmaker’s condition.
“It’s a MIRACLE! Naka-wheelchair pumasok, brisk walk lumabas,” Lacson wrote on his X account, referring to Marcoleta entering the hospital in a wheelchair and reportedly leaving on foot. In a follow-up post, he added: “Kudos to UP-PGH for putting professionalism and integrity above all other considerations in submitting their medical report to the Sandiganbayan.”
Marcoleta, 72, was brought from the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame to UP-PGH on July 14 for a court-ordered examination. He arrived wearing handcuffs and a detainee shirt under a protective vest while seated in a wheelchair, accompanied by law enforcement escorts. The Sandiganbayan Third Division had ordered the independent evaluation to determine whether his continued confinement at the police hospital remained necessary.
The senator has been held at the PNP General Hospital since his arrest on July 6 for plunder, a non-bailable offense tied to an alleged P75 million in undeclared campaign donations during the 2025 midterm elections. Following his admission there, his camp cited a series of ailments—including chest pains, high blood pressure, mild pneumonia, and degenerative disc disease—that his lawyers said required hospitalization rather than jail detention.
Lacson, a former Philippine National Police chief, has repeatedly criticized what he described as a recurring pattern of prominent figures falling ill and securing “hospital arrest” once ordered detained. In earlier remarks reported by Philstar, he noted that common conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and pneumonia appeared to surface as soon as high-profile personalities faced arrest, and questioned who was covering the cost of their confinement.
According to Inquirer, whose reporter documented Marcoleta’s arrival, the Sandiganbayan directed UP-PGH to submit its medical findings on July 15, and separately ordered the PNP to produce the senator for his court hearing that day. The anti-graft court has since ordered Marcoleta’s transfer to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas.
