By Diego Morra
Senator Rodante Marcoleta is creating more enemies by the day and he just gained a battalion of foes when he was recorded on tape and livestreamed as he slammed reporters from mainstream media outfits as “bayaran,” or paid hacks out of the blue while shepherding the 18 purported ex-Marines charged with delivering millions of pesos in cash to lawmakers as their share of “commitments” from the funds appropriated for flood control projects.
“Kayo pong mga participants sa media, na karamihan po sa inyo ay bayaran,” Marcoleta said. (To those of you in the media, many of you are paid hacks.) “Sasabihin ko na sa inyo ito. Meron po bang nagsalita sa kanila? Kayo pong members ng media, tinanong n’yo po ba sila kung bakit nagpakatahimik sila? Halos 10 buwang singkad hindi sila kumibo,” he added, referring to the former Marines presented in the hearing. He later said: “Di ko nilalahat. I’m coming from deep frustration… Pasensya na po kung ako ay nakapagsalita ng ganoon. I did not mean it.” He scored reporters for not interviewing the 18 supposed ex-Marines who made themselves scarce after executing affidavits that were peppered with holes as the June 4, 2026 Senate hearing showed.
Like his previous antics in “expunging” his suggestion that the country “give up the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG)” to China to end the eternal dispute over maritime features in the South China Sea (SCS) and the West Philippine Sea (WPS), which he labels as a “bogus construct” with “no coordinates (China’s 11-dash line has no coordinates, too),” Marcoleta’s instant defense or default mechanism was that “he never uttered such words.” This is akin to claiming his livestreamed statements were tweaked, the videos were spliced and the written reports on his June 14, 2026 press briefing “were malicious fabrications” meant to ruin his reputation.
He did his splice-and-malign ploy to criticize Sen. Panfilo Lacson over his KIG flap and accuse the usual suspects in the dark of putting words in his mouth. Considering his earlier errors, like when he wanted a resource person to be cited in contempt for clashing with him during the previous Sara Duterte impeachment hearings despite his not being a member of the House justice committee (ang isang saling-pusa ay walang karapatang humiling ng contempt citation), Marcoleta has treated legislative rules in a cavlier fashion. He was also clearly seen as trying to guide a “witness” in the flood control scandal to narrate his affidavit that a notary public exposed as bogus.
Describing himself as a lawyer who knows Senate rules, criminal procedures and the law, Marcoleta also scored his colleague Sen. Risa Hontiveros for not being conversant with Senate rules since she was not a lawyer. But being a lawyer is not a guarantee that he is a master logician, a crafty orator in the same league as Cicero, or a witty guy with *bon mots like Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde. One may describe himself as a genius, with his superior knowledge oozing down his ears or his nostrils but he inevitably will be exposed as a rapscallion marinated in stupidity. There Is no limit to stupidity, as Alexander Dumas Jr. said.
Is Marcoleta completely tactless and gothic that his politics is subtraction? He has proven himself to be a square peg in a round hole. Like the GOP Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who made the lives of the Hollywood 7 miserable and launched the worst witch hunt in US history, Marcoleta is easily one Senate creature that could immediately qualify for censure like McCarthy. His beef with Senate reporters is **puerile since he is personally frustrated with coverage. Marcoleta cannot demand that he be covered. The tragedy really is why he is being covered by the media at all since he does not add anything relevant to advancing popular understanding about statutory construction. Marcoletism is the last thing this country needs.
It is not the obligation of reporters to please him or write glowingly about his promised P2,000 for electric bills, like the P10,000 subsidy for each citizen by the equally controversial former American Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. Why lambaste Senate reporters and accuse them of being on the take without an iota of proof? Illogical as it is, Marcoleta cites the frustrating coverage of the Philippine Star and the Philippine Daily Inquirer of the Iglesia ni Cristo’s “rally for peace.” Was Marcoleta elected to serve exclusively as a lawmaker for INC? Coverage is coverage and it is the editorial discretion of newspapers how stories are written, edited and put to bed. Walang pakialam si Marcoleta kung ano ang isusulat ng mga pahayagan.
Worse, the envious Marcoleta apparently found it insulting why the newspapers he criticized did not mention his name despite his being a speaker at the rally. “All their names nandoon po sa report, including their middle names,” Marcoleta said. (All their names were in the report, including their middle names.) He found it rude, uncivil and journalistically untenable for his name not being mentioned. If Marcoleta were so concerned about the “sin of omission” of newspapers, why didn’t he raise Cain with the editors? Reporters are not responsible for putting stories to bed. They cannot be accused of being corrupt for not mentioning his sacrosanct name in the stories that came out. This is extremely petty and the Senate press corps should not only seek an apology from Marcoleta but demand his censure as well. When you bend reality to suit your ego and paper over facts to satisfy your lust for power and fame, you give short shrift to your duties as a lawmaker. ***Subreption is anathema to statutory construction. If we may suggest, why doesn’t Marcoleta establish his own newspaper and broadcast station, or even troll army, to splash his name and engage in hagiography daily. He may use them to campaign for a ban on the display of crucifixes in public schools, hospitals and government buildings. #
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WORDS OF THE DAY
Bon mots – clever, witty, or perfectly chosen remarks.
Puerile – behaving in a silly, childish, or immature way, particularly when it is highly inappropriate for an adult.
Subreption – deliberate concealment, omission, or misrepresentation of facts to gain an unfair advantage, a legal favor, or an exemption.