The prospective Sandiganbayan trial on Senator Rodante Marcoleta's plunder charge could end up being an easy case for prosecutors, according to Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson.

Lacson thinks that Marcoleta has pretty much doomed himself with his own words, leaving a scenario wherein the respondent would attempt to discredit himself.

Lacson calls this a "reverse trial". He took to X to explain what he meant.

"The prosecutor may just sit and watch with folded arms while the respondent argues against himself and the damning evidence that he himself presented in plain view of all the witnesses who watched his ‘admission against interest’ on national TV," he wrote.

The senator from Cavite noted that Marcoleta earlier acknowledged that he received cash donations for his senatorial campaign while serving as a congressman, yet failed to disclose them in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).

On Friday, the Office of the Ombudsman--true to its promise--filed plunder charges against Marcoleta and three others over some P75 million in undeclared campaign contributions for his 2025 senatorial campaign.

It also charged Marcoleta with three counts of violating Presidential Decree (PD) 46, which bars public officers from accepting gifts while in office.

Also charged were ex-Rep. Michael Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.

Marcoleta declared a net worth of P51 million last year and reported spending P112 million for his election bid. He admitted on television that he received the funds in three tranches in January 2025 from donors, but did not disclose them because they wanted to remain anonymous.

He argued that since he received the funds a month before the official campaign period started, they became "personal funds".

However, Lacson pointed out that Marcoleta still violated the law and showed a clear admission against interest because he was a public official at the time–specifically, a representative of SAGIP Party-list in the House.

"I guess Senator Marcoleta and his legal team thought they were being smart by being technical about when these contributions were made. Pero ang nakakatawa Mr. President ay, wala nang mas lilinaw sa sariling pag-amin ni Senator Marcoleta – tumanggap siya ng pera para magkaroon siya ng utang na loob sa mga taong iyon – isang maliwanag na admission against Interest, ang sabi nga ng mga abogado)," Lacson had said in a privilege speech last March.

(But the funny thing, Mr. President is that nothing could be clearer than Senator Marcoleta's own admission--he received contributions so he would have a debt of gratitude to the contributors--a clear admission against interest, as lawyers say.)