Markobeta

By Artchil B. Fernandez

The perfect hatchet man or henchman aptly describes Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. He is the right person for the dirty job. His treacherous ways are once again on full display in the current Senate investigation on the substandard/ghost flood control projects scam.

Marcoleta took the initiative to investigate the flood control projects scandal as then chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee when the issue broke out. On the first day of the hearing, the public immediately took notice of the bizarre behavior of Marcoleta.

During the hearing he presided over as chair, Marcoleta accorded utmost courtesy to the Discaya couple — Curlee and Sarah — who are tagged as the brains behind the flood control projects mess. He immediately vouched for their testimonies and recommended that they be made state witnesses. Most astounding, Marcoleta insisted the Discaya couple need not return the swindled public funds.

The position of Marcoleta is stupendously incredulous if not outright absurd. State witnesses are usually the least guilty among those accused of a crime. But they are like Janet Lim-Napoles in the pork barrel scam. In connivance with crooks in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and shamelessly corrupt politicians, the Discaya couple orchestrated the biggest corruption scandal in history. Hundreds of billions of public funds were robbed from the national treasury. The families of the bandits even had the gall to publicly flaunt their luxurious lifestyle derived from the loot.

Hundreds of billions of people’s money was siphoned by the Discayas through their nine construction companies. These companies would join bidding for flood control projects worth hundreds of billions of pesos. Whichever of the nine companies wins the bidding, the Discayas are the ultimate winners. The flood control projects were either substandard or ghost (non-existent). The plundered money was then shared by key actors in the scam — greedy contractors, crooked DPWH officials, and corrupt politicians who inserted the projects in the national budget.

It is plainly clear that the Discayas in this case are not the least guilty but the main culprits. With the aid of Marcoleta, the Discayas packaged themselves as victims, pinning the blame on rogue DPWH officials who forced them to skim the flood control funds. If the Discaya couple are really clean, why did they agree with these crooks in the DPWH? They could have refused to take part in the brazen robbery of national coffers. But they willingly participated in the theft and hugely benefited from it. They are not the least guilty or victims but the principal architects of the scam.

Why allow the Discayas to get away with their wicked acts by becoming state witnesses? Should they become state witnesses, the Discayas are absolved of the crimes they are accused of. Instead of letting them off the hook, the Discayas should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Why is Marcoleta helping them escape from their culpability in the biggest corruption scandal in the country?

More perplexing is the argument of Marcoleta that the Discayas need not return the money stolen from the Filipino people as one of the conditions before becoming state witnesses. The money belongs to the Filipino people. The Discayas have no right to the loot. The money is stolen from the national treasury, and it is only right and proper that it be returned. Yet, here comes Marcoleta pushing the despicable idea.

“Why do you lawyer for the Discayas?” current chair of the Blue-Ribbon Committee Sen. Ping Lacson pointedly asked Marcoleta.

The odd behavior of Marcoleta becomes comprehensible in light of revelations that his wife is an independent director and chairman of the audit committee at Stronghold Insurance Co., Inc. This is the company that provided bond obligation for Alpha & Omega Contractor owned by the Discayas. Edna Marcoleta is also a non-executive director on the 2023 board of Milestone Guaranty and Assurance. Milestone issued a P19.29 million bond for Elite General Contractor, a firm owned by the Discaya family, for a P192.9 million flood control project.

To the relief of the nation, Marcoleta can no longer promote the interest of the Discayas since he lost the chairmanship of the Blue-Ribbon Committee as a result of the change in the leadership of the Senate. But losing the chairmanship of the Blue-Ribbon Committee did not stop Marcoleta from playing his tricks.

Recently, Marcoleta sprung a surprise witness at the hearing of the Blue-Ribbon Committee, Orly Regala Guteza. Guteza could not recall his own affidavit and stumbled even reading it, forcing Marcoleta to coach and feed him lines. Later, lawyer Petchie Rose Espera disowned notarizing and signing Guteza’s affidavit. It’s a fake affidavit.

Sowing confusion, muddling, and messing the Senate investigation on the flood control projects scam is the goal of Marcoleta. Squid tactics, throwing dirt, and gaslighting are among the filthy tricks in Marcoleta’s bag. He is reprising the same antic when he led the charge in denying ABS-CBN its franchise. Marcoleta kept on repeating the lie that ABS-CBN did not pay taxes despite certification and testimonies of BIR officials to the contrary. Lying and manufacturing falsehoods are Marcoleta’s expertise.

Treacherous Marcoleta is engaging in foul play to serve the interest of his ultimate masters, the Dutertes. Flood control projects flourished during the Duterte administration and the Discayas started dealing with the DPWH in 2016. From 2016 to 2025, the Discayas cornered P207 billion in flood control projects, the bulk of the amount obtained between 2016 and 2022. Marcoleta wanted to obscure the role of the Dutertes in the scandal by focusing on 2022 to 2025. He is shielding the Dutertes from their culpability.

Marcoleta is the Dutertes’ demolition man, their deceitful lackey — a markobeta.