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Private Jets, Zero Pesos, P5.2 Million Vanished: The Gospel According to Saint Marcoleta

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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Private Jets, Zero Pesos, P5.2 Million Vanished: The Gospel According to Saint Marcoleta
The Only Senate Campaign That Ran on Faith, Fuel from Friends, and a Straight Face

By Louis “Barok” C. Biraogo — November 25, 2025

ACT I: “Zero Pesos for Private Jets” – The Greatest Accounting Miracle Since the Feeding of the Five Thousand

Picture this: a senator who finished 6th nationwide in the May 2025 elections files a Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) claiming he spent exactly zero pesos on transportation. Not one centavo for gasoline, not a jeepney fare, not even parking at NAIA. Nothing.

Yet the same gentleman was crisscrossing the country in private jets lent by three unnamed “friendly groups” (spoiler: one of them rhymes with “Iglesia ni Cristo”), escorted by 40,000 volunteers who apparently worked for the sheer joy of it, and somehow forgot to declare P5.2 million in contributions from 26 government contractors – contributions expressly prohibited under Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881).

That, ladies and gentlemen, is not a clerical error.
That is creative writing worthy of a National Book Award.

Who needs campaign cash when you’ve got faith, friends, and a paper shredder that runs on sanctimony?

ACT II: COMELEC’s Show-Cause Order – A Sternly Worded Love Letter Disguised as Enforcement

On 21 November 2025, COMELEC finally woke up from its six-month nap and issued a show-cause order giving Marcoleta ten whole days (extensions happily granted, because “due process”) to explain why millions from government contractors never appeared in his SOCE.

Chairman George Garcia called it “just an explanation so the issue can be settled.”
How reassuring. A potential violation of the Synchronized Elections Law (Republic Act No. 7166), the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019), and possible falsification under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code – and the tone is that of a customer-service agent asking if you’d like fries with that.

This is not accountability. This is theater with extra steps.

ACT III: The Iglesia ni Cristo Exemption Clause That Exists Only in Marcoleta’s Head

Private jets? Courtesy of the bloc.
40,000 volunteers? Also the bloc.
Declared value in SOCE? Still zero.

There is no “religious in-kind contribution” loophole in Section 94(a) of the Omnibus Election Code. The Supreme Court has been crystal clear for decades: anything of value given to influence an election must be reported and valued. No exceptions for divine intervention.

When a single religious corporation can bankroll a senate campaign off the books, that is not freedom of religion.
That is a parallel shadow government operating above campaign-finance laws.

ACT IV: Three Possible Endings – Only One Doesn’t Make Us a Banana Republic

  1. The Comedy – COMELEC accepts the excuse that the dog ate P5.2 million worth of receipts, slaps a P30,000 fine, and everyone pretends democracy was served.
  2. The Tragedy – Endless motions, prescription periods, political pressure, and the case evaporates like morning fog. Marcoleta keeps his seat. The public loses what little faith it had left.
  3. The Reckoning – COMELEC immediately refers the case to the Ombudsman for:
  • Violation of RA 3019 §3(e) & §3(b) (manifest partiality & receiving prohibited gifts)
  • Election offenses under OEC §§95, 262, 264 (up to 6 years imprisonment + perpetual disqualification)
  • Falsification under RPC Art. 171
    while the Senate Ethics Committee finally remembers it exists.

Only the third ending is compatible with a country that still pretends to take its laws seriously.

FINAL VERDICT

To COMELEC: Stop treating senators like endangered species. Enforce the law, or admit you’re just another decorative agency.

To Senator Marcoleta: The Filipino people are tired of magicians who make millions disappear while swearing poverty on notarized forms.

This is not a discrepancy.
This is a crime scene with a senate seat parked on top of it.

Prosecute. Disqualify. Imprison if proven.
Or forever confirm that in the Philippines, some animals are indeed more equal than others.

Barok out.

Key Citations

Primary Legal Sources

Primary News Source

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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