Sinabi ni House senior deputy minority leader at ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima na dapat nating ibalita ng Commission on Elections ang kaso tungkol sa statement of contributions and expenditures ni Sen. Rodante Marcoleta sa National Bureau of Investigation at Office of the Ombudsman. Kritikal niya ang desisyon ng Comelec na bigyang-patawad kay Marcoleta dahil na-dekriminalisa na ang paglabag sa Section 109 ng Omnibus Election Code. Gayunpaman, maaari pa ring harapin nito ang mga paratang ng perjury at graft.
Sa isang pahayag, sinabi ni De Lima na hindi dapat huminto roon ang Comelec. Dapat itong mag-refer ng mga natuklasan nito sa NBI at Ombudsman para sa imbestigasyon sa posibleng mga paratang ng perjury at graft laban kay Marcoleta. “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,” ani De Lima. Dagdag niya, hindi dapat basta-basta nilinis si Marcoleta. “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,” sabi niya sa 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,” pagpapatuloy niya. Ang pahayag ay ginawa sa Manila, Philippines.
