Prosecutors end evidence presentation vs. Marcoleta on first day of trial, says Remulla

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that prosecutors have finished presenting their evidence against Senator Rodante Marcoleta in the plunder case lodged against him —on the first day of trial.

In a "24 Oras" report from Raffy Tima on Friday, the prosecution was quickly able to present before the Sandiganbayan all of its evidence on the first day of Marcoleta’s trial for plunder and the violation of Presidential Decree 46.

This came only three months and three days after the case against Marcoleta was lodged on July 3. Marcoleta’s co-accused in the case are former House lawmaker Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

Remulla said that this was the fastest that a case has been resolved in the history of the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We rested our case; we presented our evidence. Ang ibig sabihin niyan, is that, if it took us three months, two or months or three months to present our case, he would have to do the same,” Remulla said.

(We rested our case; we presented our evidence. This means that, if it took us three months, two to three months, to present our case, he would have to do the same.)

The case stemmed from Marcoleta’s own admission that he accepted P75 million from his co-accused as a campaign donation while he was still sitting as a House lawmaker. However, this was not declared in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures.

“Ang lumalabas kasi sa case ni Senator Marcoleta is actually purely a legal question. Yung nangyari, everything is admitted, so there is only one question, whether or not he committed plunder. And that’s what we presented before the court,” Remulla said.

(What is apparent from the case of Senator Marcoleta is actually purely a legal question. What happened was, everything is admitted, so there is only one question: whether or not he committed plunder. And that’s what we presented before the court.)

Remulla explained that it was Marcoleta’s own request for bail that quickened the process, as the prosecution had to lay out all the evidence already, with most of the facts being uncontested.

The Ombudsman said that Marcoleta “brought it upon himself to make us do it also if you think about it.”

The Office of the Ombudsman is hoping that the defense will also be able to present its case fast. The prosecution did not present witnesses for Marcoleta’s co-accused.

“We might be breaking records here, especially if the Sandiganbayan will really do its job, in less than one year pwedeng matapos ang isang kaso (the case could be done),” Remulla said. —Jean Mangaluz/LDF, GMA News