All respondents in the plunder case filed against Senator Rodante Marcoleta by the Office of the Ombudsman have been accounted for after another accused was arrested in Quezon City, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.
PNP spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co said members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested Aristotle Viray, 55, a businessman, around 6:45 p.m. Monday at a gasoline station along Bonny Serrano Avenue.
The arrest was done by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued on July 6 by the Sandiganbayan Third Division for violation of Republic Act 7080 (An Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder), which is a non-bailable offense.
“To confirm, nung nahuli si Mr. Viray noong July 6 (when he was arrested) he complained of elevated blood pressure, so he was brought last night, July 6, to the PNP Health Service, but he was cleared. He stayed overnight. So he will be in Sandiganbayan, for the return of warrants and for the commitment order,” Co said in an interview on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, Marcoleta surrendered to the police and was subsequently placed under arrest.
Two co-accused, former congressman and Cabinet official Mike Defensor and businessman Joseph Espiritu, were arrested at a coffee shop, also in Quezon City.
Marcoleta, Defensor and Espiritu were brought by the police to the Sandiganbayan for the return of the arrest warrant and later taken to Camp Crame for booking procedures.
However, the senator was brought to the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) after complaining of chest pains while undergoing booking procedures. He was found to have high blood pressure.
“Senator Marcoleta is hypertensive. We can say that he is clinically stable because his symptoms are on and off but his blood pressure is not stable, fluctuating,” Lt. Col. Benaly Bayani, chief of Internal Medicine of PNPGH, said in another interview.
With his current condition, authorities are not discounting the possibility of additional days in the hospital until everything normalizes.
“Considering his age and the symptoms today and yesterday, we are on the stage of monitoring because his blood pressure is not stable,” said Bayani.
Marcoleta is turning 73 on July 29.
Police said it will take one or two days to complete all medical tests on Marcoleta before a full medical report can be sent to the Sandiganbayan.
Bayani, meanwhile, also confirmed that Vice President Sara Duterte visited the senator at the PNPGH on Tuesday morning.
“Vice President Duterte arrived here at around 7:30 (a.m.) and she left at around 8:30 (a.m.),” she said.
Once cleared by doctors, Marcoleta is expected to be detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas where all his co-accused for plunder, as well as Senator Jinggoy Estrada and former senator Bong Revilla, are detained.
A case was filed against Marcoleta after he admitted to receiving PHP75 million in campaign contributions, which he did not declare in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures.
The three co-accused donated the amount to Marcoleta. (PNA)