MANILA – The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has asked the anti-graft court’s Third Division to consolidate one of the violation of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 46 cases against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta with his PHP75-million plunder case, ruling that the non-plunder charge is a necessary component of the plunder case.

In an eight-page resolution dated July 8, the Sixth Division said the case for violation of PD No. 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts, arose from the same set of facts as the plunder case pending before the Third Division.

“Considering that the present case for Violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 and the Plunder case pending before the Third Division arose from the same set of facts, consolidation of the said cases is proper because Violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 is necessarily included in Plunder under Sec. 1(d)(2) of Republic Act No. 7080,” the court said.

“After examining the Information and the Resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman, this Court finds that the present case should be consolidated with E-SB-26-CRM-0018, for Plunder, which is the lowest docket number,” it added.

The Sixth Division said the PD No. 46 case, docketed as E-SB-26-CRM-0020, “is merely a component” of the plunder case pending before the Third Division.

“Applying the foregoing to the present case, this Court is of the opinion that the charge of Violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 is merely a component of Plunder in E-SB-26-CRM-0018. However, since the present Information for Violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 had already been filed, in addition to the Information for Plunder, and the same were raffled to different Divisions of the Sandiganbayan, the proper course of action is to consolidate the present case for Violation of Presidential Decree No. 46 with the case for Plunder for joint trial,” the resolution read.

The Sixth Division noted that both cases involve the same parties, arise from the same facts, and would require substantially the same witnesses and documentary evidence.

It added that consolidation “will promote the speedy disposition of cases, serve the convenience of the parties and the interest of justice, and prevent conflicting rulings on the same set of facts.”

Under the 2018 Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan, consolidated cases are handled by the division with the lowest docket number. The Sixth Division ordered the forwarding of the records to the Third Division, subject to its acceptance.

Marcoleta also faces two other PD No. 46 cases pending before the Sandiganbayan’s First and Fourth Divisions. The First Division case names businessman Aristotle Viray as his co-accused, while the Fourth Division case names former Rep. Mike Defensor.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the plunder and related charges on July 3 against Marcoleta, Defensor, businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Viray over the alleged receipt of PHP75 million in undeclared campaign contributions during the 2025 elections.

Earlier, Third Division Chairperson Associate Justice Karl Miranda said the issuance of arrest warrants against the accused merely indicated that the court found probable cause.

“The court has no politics. No politics. This is a court of law guided only by the Constitution, the law applicable and the evidence to be presented by the parties,” Miranda told reporters.

Authorities have already returned the arrest warrants for Defensor, Espiritu and Viray, who are now detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas.

Marcoleta, meanwhile, remains confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital after suffering chest pains and high blood pressure. Once declared fit to travel, he is expected to return to the Sandiganbayan before being transferred to the same detention facility as his co-accused.

The arraignment and pretrial of Marcoleta and his co-accused before the Third Division, originally set for July 10, have been postponed due to pending motions.