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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Did he surrender, or was he arrested? Jonvic narrates how cops secured Marcoleta

Did he surrender, or was he arrested? Jonvic narrates how cops secured Marcoleta

Published Jul 6, 2026 02:03 pm
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta after police served the arrest warrant for a case of plunder. (Santi San Juan)
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta after police served the arrest warrant for a case of plunder. (Santi San Juan)
It was supposed to be another typical Monday morning at the Sandiganbayan but when Sen. Rodante Marcoleta showed up to personally file a motion to quash the case of plunder against him, that’s when the situation started to heat up.
And police appeared to have taken advantage of the situation as they locked down the Sandiganbayan right after the motion to quash was junked by the Third Division of the anti-graft court.
Marcoleta was nabbed on Monday morning shortly after the arrest warrant was issued against him for a case of plunder in relation to the P75 million he admitted to have received, but failed to declare both in his election expenses report and statement of assets and liabilities.
The arrest was made amid claims and gaslighting on social media in the past weeks that the Philippine National Police (PNP) would not dare to arrest him, especially after the three-day protest action that started at the People Power Monument in Quezon City and ended at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. 
According to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla, the entire operation that led to the arrest of Marcolate started when he appeared at the Sandiganbayan between 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Monday.
Marcoleta was with his lawyers that time and the intention was to file a motion to quash before the Third Division, the court handling his plunder case with Mike Defensor and two other co-accused.
The three accused were the ones who donated the P75 million to Marcoleta. 
“When the motion to quash was denied, the Sandiganbayan was locked down and he was not allowed to go out,” said Remulla in a press briefing at Camp Crame while Marcoleta was undergoing booking procedures.
The arrest warrant was subsequently released and served to Marcoleta. 
Additional policemen were later sent to Sandiganbayan to help secure the entire facility and later. 
Remulla and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. went to Sandiganbayan to supervise the return of warrant and Marcoleta’s travel to Camp Crame in Quezon City for the booking procedures.
But did Marcoleta surrender, or was he arrested?
“It was both,” said Remulla.
“He went there voluntarily to the Sandiganbayan to file a motion to quash. Subsequently when it was denied we closed down the building, we arrived and we arrested him so it is both,” he stressed.
Marcolet's co-accused Mike Defensor and businessman Joseph Espiritu were later arrested in a coffee shop in Quezon City. The third accused, Aristotle Viray, is now the subject of police operation. 

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PNP Jonvic Remulla Rodante Marcoleta arrest warrant plunder
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