The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Thursday granted the request of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta to undergo a medical check-up on September 7.
‘The court grants the motion and allows Marcoleta’s medical furlough on September 7,’ said Associate Justice Karl Miranda, the Third Division chairperson.
Marcoleta’s lawyer David Gabriel said the senator is suffering from stage two hypertension and prostate enlargement, prompting them to file the motion for medical furlough for a check-up in the Medical City in Pasig City.
‘We believe there is no medical facility [in jail] to actually examine the medical condition of honorable Senator Marcoleta,’ Gabriel told the court.
Miranda clarified: ‘All the tests will be completed in a day and Senator Marcoleta will be returned to Quezon City jail?’
Gabriel responded in the affirmative, noting that it is only an outpatient procedure.
‘Okay, so clear,’ Miranda said. ‘The court will grant the request.’
The senator was on a nine-day hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police General Hospital following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him and his campaign donors on July 6.
Marcoleta, his donors former Rep. Mike Defensor and businessmen, Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray face plunder over a P75 million campaign donation the senator received while being a sitting party-list lawmaker, which, according to prosecutors, was not declared in the senator’s financial and campaign disclosures.
Of the said amount, P30 million allegedly came from Defensor, P25 million from Espiritu, and P20 million from Viray.
All of them have pleaded not guilty for plunder during their arraignment.
They also face charges for violating Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits government officials from receiving, and private individuals from conferring, gifts.
Marcoleta also faces three counts for violating PD No. 46, filed before the First, Third and Fourth Divisions of Sandiganbayan.
After the hearing, Marcoleta posted a P90,000 bail in total for three of his cases.
‘Yes, I believe it’s P30,000 each,’ Gabriel told Inquirer in a text message when asked to confirm if Marcoleta has posted bail for his three PD No. 46 cases.
The senator, however, will remain in custody due to plunder handled in the Third Division, but his bail hearing for this case began on Thursday