Congress’s repressive hypocrite

Senator Rodante Marcoleta’s repressions against the media have been his favorite script, furnishing himself as the righteous public servant crusading against biased media. 

Recently, during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on flood control projects, a session notably excluded from official Senate social media streams, Marcoleta turned his fire on the press, branding journalists as “paid hacks” or bayaran, accusing them of intentionally suppressing the truth.

This hearing was conducted alongside 18 ex-Marines and lawyer Levi Baligod. At the same time, media members noted that they had actually questioned acting Senate President “Win” Gatchalian about efforts to halt the probe. Gatchalian denied any such moves, stating that the matter would be handled by the committee chaired by Senator Erwin Tulfo.

Sen. Marcoleta’s latest hit is not a new, isolated outburst. Putting things in retrospect, his pivotal role in the 2020 ABS-CBN shutdown is a facet of his current hostility. As a House Deputy Speaker, he led the charge to deny the network its franchise renewal. He frequently repeated unproven allegations of tax and labor violations even after government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue cleared the network.

Even more so, he did not just perform a legislative duty; he proudly declared his hand in the shutdown during his senatorial campaign, a move that forced thousands into unemployment. In 2022, he further expanded this control by launching an aggressive legislative campaign to block a joint venture between ABS-CBN and TV5, pressuring the National Telecommunications Commission and the Philippine Competition Commission until the deal was terminated.

Sen. Marcoleta’s hypocritical anti-bayaran rhetoric is even more revolting if one were to dig up his legal crisis. While he accuses journalists of being paid, legal watchdogs like Kontra Daya and the Advocates for Public Interest Law have filed a  15-page perjury complaint against him for his own financial discrepancies. Marcoleta’s 2025 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) listed a net worth of only ₱51.9 million with just ₱16.7 million in liquid assets. Yet, his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) reported ₱112.8 million in personal campaign spending while declaring zero contributions. Investigators have since traced ₱75 million of that spending to three massive, unrecorded cash tranches received between January 6 and January 9, 2025. These donations included ₱30 million from Mike Defensor, ₱25 million from Joseph Espiritu, and ₱20 million from Aristotle Viray.

And just because the aggregate sum of these hidden donations exceeds ₱50 million, the Office of the Ombudsman has recommended charging Marcoleta with non-bailable plunder and indirect bribery. As a result, the Sandiganbayan issued a Precautionary Hold Departure Order, effectively placing a travel ban on the senator.

While Marcoleta was cleared of direct election law criminal offenses due to technical loopholes in Republic Act 7166, the Ombudsman bypassed these by classifying the funds as illegal wealth accumulation under anti-graft statutes. These loopholes include a pre-campaign window where he was not yet legally a candidate and the decriminalization of administrative SOCE failures. However, his donors are still being subpoenaed and prosecuted for failing to file disclosure reports. What does this say about ethics and accountability in the public service? Even more so, the intended separation of powers among the judiciary and legislative branches?

Marcoleta’s brand of censorship is unstoppable, as it has now evolved to patrolling digital spaces. He recently pressured Meta to accelerate content takedowns and urged fact-checkers like Rappler and Vera Files to remain objective and free from political bias. Senator Robinhood Padilla echoed these concerns, though Vera Files president Ellen Tordesillas noted that combating fake news is a shared responsibility. Rappler’s Gemma Mendoza has called for greater transparency from Meta regarding the sources of misinformation. Critics fear these measures are being weaponized to silence legitimate critics under the guise of fighting fake news.

Marcoleta’s double standards have severely compromised his role as a legislative investigator: ​​He demands transparency from journalists while holding shadow hearings and hiding millions in campaign funds. 

Six years ago, he showed he was willing to kill a medium to control the message; today, he has attempted to stifle the media’s credibility to shield his own. To allow a leader to champion censorship while evading the very accountability he demands of others is an affront to the integrity of our institutions. The media must always stand for the truth and nothing but the truth. Attempts to dictate the course and outcomes of a narrative will never erase the reality of Sen. Marcoleta’s actions. 

Defending a free press is a right and a fundamental facet of transparency, accountability, and good governance.