House senior deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the Commission on Elections should have referred Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s statement of contributions and expenditures case to the National Bureau of Investigation and Office of the Ombudsman. She noted Comelec absolved him because the offense under Section 109 of the Omnibus Election Code was decriminalized by Republic Act 7166. Still, she said perjury and graft charges could apply.
In a statement, De Lima said Comelec should not have stopped at absolving Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. It should refer its findings to the NBI and Ombudsman for probe into possible perjury and graft charges. “The Comelec absolved Sen. Marcoleta of the election offense of violating Section 109 of the Omnibus Election Code on the filing of SOCEs because the offense was already decriminalized under Republic Act 7166,” De Lima said. She added Marcoleta should not have been cleared outright. “He should not have been cleared just like that. There are other possible crimes he may have committed for allegedly failing to disclose election donations in his SOCE,” she said in Filipino. “It is only proper for the Comelec to coordinate with and submit the results of its investigation to other agencies to determine whether other laws were violated aside from the Election Code,” she continued. The statement was issued in Manila, Philippines.
