‘Marcoleta has mild pneumonia’

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta cannot be held in jail yet after medical examinations found he is suffering from mild pneumonia, degenerative disc disease and hypertension.

Marcoleta, who is facing plunder charges for receiving P75 million in undeclared campaign donations while serving as a party-list congressman, has been confined at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital since Monday after complaining of chest and nape pains.

The PNP disclosed that the 72-year-old senator is not yet fit to travel, prompting them to defer his transfer to jail while he undergoes treatment.

“Our findings of Senator Marcoleta right now [through] chest x-ray are that he has pneumonia… and he is hypertensive, so it’s expected that we would see cardiomegaly (enlarged heart). For his age, it’s not good for him to have fluctuating blood pressure,” Lt. Col. Belany Bayani, chief of the internal medicine department at the PNP General Hospital, said.

Bayani later said that the senator is also suffering from degenerative disc disease, a condition in which spinal discs naturally break down due to aging.

“When discs degenerate, nerve endings are getting stuck, so there’s already pain in the neck and ringing of ears,” she said.

According to the internal medicine chief, the condition typically requires at least six rehabilitation therapy sessions, along with regular intake of pain relievers.

Yesterday, Marcoleta’s blood pressure rose to 160/90.

Despite his ailments, Bayani said he remains “clinically stable.”

Authorities have yet to determine when Marcoleta will be discharged, saying his blood pressure must first stabilize.

PNP spokesman Col. Allan Rae Co said police are awaiting clearance from the Health Service before transferring Marcoleta to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, where he has been committed.

Marcoleta’s co-accused – former lawmaker Mike Defensor and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray – are already detained at the facility.

Defensor, Espiritu and Viray allegedly donated P30 million, P20 million and P25 million, respectively, to Marcoleta’s 2025 senatorial bid.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., meanwhile, denied that Marcoleta is receiving special treatment.

“You can go to the [hospital]; you can see where he’s detained,” he said.

The Sandiganbayan has ordered police and the PNP General Hospital to submit updated reports on Marcoleta’s custody and medical condition before he is committed to regular detention.

The anti-graft court’s Third Division directed Police Col. John Guiagui, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s Metro Manila regional unit, to submit separate reports on the senator’s current custody, booking process and detention status.

It also ordered the PNP General Hospital to provide the senator’s latest health and medical condition within a non-extendible period of 24 hours from notice.

The court noted that it had received the return of the arrest warrant on July 6, stating that Marcoleta “was transported to the PNP General Hospital... to undergo and receive the necessary medical attention prior to his commitment in accordance with the lawful orders of this Honorable Court.”

In light of the pending medical reports, the Third Division also postponed the July 10 arraignment of Marcoleta and his co-accused.

More time

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan has asked for more time before ruling on the petition for bail filed by detained former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. in connection with his alleged involvement in the flood control scandal.

The anti-graft court’s Third Division extended by another 30 days the period to resolve Revilla’s bail petition, as the ruling still has to be reviewed and revised before it can be released.

Revilla is facing a non-bailable malversation charge over the alleged P92.8-million “ghost” flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

He and his co-accused, DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office assistant engineer Brice Hernandez, engineer Arjay Domasig, finance section chief Juanito Mendoza and cashier Christina Pineda, filed bail petitions that were heard in April.

In January, Revilla posted P90,000 bail before the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division handling the graft case over the same anomalous project. –  Ghio Ong