MANILA – House prosecution panel spokesperson and impeachment trial adviser Robert Ace Barbers on Thursday said the reported plunder case and arrest warrant against Senator Rodante Marcoleta are unrelated to the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

In a news release, Barbers rejected claims that the case against Marcoleta was intended to prevent the senator from taking part in the impeachment proceedings.

He said the legal issues involving Marcoleta are separate from the impeachment case and should not be linked.

According to Barbers, the Office of the Ombudsman said the complaint against Marcoleta stemmed from the senator’s own admission that he received PHP75 million in campaign funds from three “friends” but allegedly failed to declare the amount in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) for the May 2025 midterm elections.

“Well, nirerespeto ko yung kanyang (Marcoleta’s) opinion. In fact, karapatan niya yan na ganyan ang kanyang paniniwala. Kaibigan po natin yang si Sen. Marcoleta, pero para sa akin, personally, walang kinalaman dito sa impeachment na ito yung kasong kakaharapin niya (I respect his opinion. That’s his right. Senator Marcoleta is my friend, but for me, personally, the case he is facing has nothing to do with the impeachment),” he said.

Barbers, a former Surigao del Norte lawmaker, said the Office of the Ombudsman merely acted on information that Marcoleta himself publicly disclosed regarding the campaign funds he admitted receiving while serving as the representative of the Sagip Party-list.

He added that attributing Marcoleta’s legal situation to the impeachment proceedings would be speculative and unsupported by the facts presented by investigating authorities.

Barbers also maintained that the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte and the legal issues involving individual senators are separate matters that should proceed independently and in accordance with the law.