Lacson: Marcoleta didn’t deny seeking P500-M ‘allocables’

Sen. Rodante Marcoleta–INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta has said a lot of things during his most recent privilege speech, but he did not deny the existence of an alleged handwritten letter containing his request for P500 million worth of allocables from the executive, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said.

“He deliberately missed the most important reaction: deny or refute the handwritten note (c/o Cong Marcoleta) on the document as presented,” Lacson said in a post on X.

Lacson was referring to Marcoleta’s privilege speech on Wednesday to the partial report of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which Lacson chaired, stating that it had a handwritten note of deceased Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that she released P500 million to a certain “Cong. Marcoleta.”

READ: Lacson: Marcoleta said a lot, but didn’t deny seeking P500-M allocables

Evidence at hand

The term “allocable” refers to a fund that is officially included in a government agency’s appropriation in favor of a project to be identified by a lawmaker.

Lacson said Cabral’s letter has not yet been turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman, but he plans to submit the document, which came directly from Cabral’s camp.

He said the words “Cong. Marcoleta” may refer to two individuals: Senator Marcoleta, who was a member of the 19th Congress, or his son, incumbent Sagip party list Rep. Paolo Henry Marcoleta, who is in his first term after the 2025 elections.

Lacson said that since the issues being discussed are related to the 2025 national budget, which was crafted in 2024, only Senator Marcoleta was a member of Congress at that time.

On Wednesday, Marcoleta delivered his own privilege speech, claiming that the statements made by Lacson failed to present the complete picture and failed to provide the proper context.

“It was cut, not the whole picture. It has no sufficient context and it seems to refer to this representation that I asked for projects amounting to 500—whether it’s P500 billion, P500 million, or P500 thousand. The big document tells a narrative that a certain Cong. Marcoleta has this P500 (million) allocation for the DPWH.” Marcoleta said in his speech

Marcoleta complained that he was dragged into the controversy but the report did not even mention other lawmakers who were already linked to the controversy by witnesses through their sworn affidavits.