Senator Rodante Marcoleta admitted receiving P75 million in campaign donations for his successful 2025 Senate bid despite reporting zero contributions in his official election records.

In the 2025 midterm elections, Marcoleta made history as the first member of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) to win a seat in the Senate. He pulled in 15.14 million votes, landing in sixth place.

Among the 12 winning senators, Marcoleta was the only one who reported no campaign donations in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

But in late 2025, Marcoleta himself acknowledged receiving P75 million for his senatorial bid while he was still serving as a congressman. In an interview with INC-run NET25 uploaded on November 8, 2024, he said the money came from friends who supported his campaign.

Marcoleta’s victory surprised many after he consistently lagged in pre-election surveys. He attributed his win to his network of supporters.

“Nakalimutan nila na napakarami kong kaibigan…Ang mga kaibigan ko nagbigay sa akin talaga,” he said. “Isa lang ang kanilang pakiusap sa akin. Sana huwag mo na kaming i-disclose ang identity.”

(“They forgot that I have so many friends…My friends were the ones who really donated to me,” he said. “Their only request of me was not to disclose their identities.)

Marcoleta said he was told by his campaign donors to consider the money as “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude).

Marcoleta’s admission has since come under scrutiny. He is now facing a non-bailable plunder complaint before the Sandiganbayan over the undeclared campaign contributions.

Breaking down Marcoleta’s campaign spending

Marcoleta’s SOCE shows that he spent P112.9 million during his 2025 campaign.

If his statement about receiving P75 million in campaign contributions is taken at face value, that amount would account for nearly 67% of his total reported campaign expenditures. 

Rappler’s analysis of his SOCE shows that television advertisements accounted for the biggest share of his campaign spending at P49.63 million. He spent P26.08 million on GMA Network Inc., P18.21 million on TV5 Network Inc., and P5.34 million on TVJ Productions.

For radio political advertisements, Marcoleta spent P33.71 million, accounting for 30% of his total campaign expenditure.

Aside from traditional media, Marcoleta also invested P430 million in his social media campaign. Of this amount, P130,000 went to Facebook post boosting, while P300,000 was paid to Think Marketing for “social media campaign” services.

Marcoleta also spent P13.7 for printed materials and merchandise, like campaign shirts, arm sleeves, fan brochures, and tarpaulins. For event production, which accounted for led walls, sound and light systems, venue rental, and food, Marcoleta poured in P10.34 million. 

The INC senator also paid P5 million to Publicus Asia Inc. as campaign consultant, and P42,428 for office equipment. 

Who are Marcoleta’s campaign donors?

Based on the complaint, Marcoleta allegedly received P30 million from former Anakalusugan Representative Mike Defensor.

Defensor has been a vocal supporter of Marcoleta. He was present in the recent rally staged by the INC protesting against the senator’s possible arrest in relation to undeclared campaign donations.

Marcoleta also supposedly received P25 million from Aristotle Viray and P20 million from Joseph Espiritu.

Under Section 14 of Republic Act No. 7166, every candidate is strictly mandated by law to submit a “full, true, and itemized disclosure” of all election-related contributions and expenditures.

A previous Rappler investigation showed that SOCEs are critical in uncovering potential conflicts of interest. In 2025, Rappler reported that Senator Chiz Escudero’s top campaign donor owned a company that ranks among the country’s largest flood control contractors.

The Comelec, however, found that Marcoleta did not commit an election offense related to the disclosure of campaign contributions. Based on the Comelec’s ruling, he should have included the P75 million. However, the legal provision that once made an election offense the failure to disclose contributions had already been repealed by a later law.

Although he was cleared of an election offense, the Office of the Ombudsman alleges that Marcoleta committed plunder and violated Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts.

Marcoleta’s wealth

Among the dozens of senatorial candidates in the 2025 elections, Marcoleta ranked 12th among the biggest spenders.

Based on his declared Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) in 2025, Marcoleta is the 17th richest senator in the 24-member chamber. His net worth stands at P51.96 million, with P28.44 million in debts and P80.4 million in total assets.

Subtracting the alleged P75 million in undeclared campaign contributions from his reported P112.9 million in campaign expenditures leaves around P37 million that would have had to come from other sources.

The public, however, has no way of checking if Marcoleta actually had enough personal wealth to cover that P37 million gap because his financial records from the years right before the election are unavailable.

Back in 2024, Rappler requested for the 2022 and 2023 SALNs of various members of the House of Representatives, including Marcoleta’s, when he served as SAGIP Party-list representative. His office never replied to those emailed requests. Rappler sent another follow-up request to the House Secretary General’s office on April 22, 2026, asking for his SALN records from 2022 to 2024, but those documents remain unavailable. Our request sent via email was only acknowledged by the House Secretary General’s office.

Without those records, the public cannot independently assess how Marcoleta financed the portion of his campaign that was not covered by the P75 million he admitted receiving.

The table below contains only the historical SALN records for Marcoleta currently available in Rappler’s database.

Marcoleta first entered the House of Representatives in 2004 under the Alagad Party-list, a group that focused on the urban poor. He served as the representative of the said party from 2004 to 2007, 2009 to 2010, and 2010 to 2013. 

After a brief break from politics, Marcoleta returned to Congress in 2016 as the nominee of the Social Amelioration and Genuine Intervention on Poverty (SAGIP) Party-list. He went on to serve from 2016 to 2025.

Speaking at a rally before members of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious group known for bloc voting, Marcoleta said he was prepared to go to jail.

“Nakahanda po akong magpakulong. Kung kinakailangan kong maaresto po, wala pong problema,” he declared on Wednesday, July 1. (I am prepared to go to jail. If I have to be arrested, that’s not a problem.)

He maintained that he had done nothing wrong.

In that rally, many INC members wore shirts bearing the message, “Transparency for Better Democracy.” It was the group’s rallying cry during its anti-corruption protest in November 2025.

But if transparency was the message, shouldn’t it also apply to fellow INC member Senator Marcoleta?

– Rappler.com