Rodante Marcoleta
Rodante Dizon Marcoleta is a Filipino television host, lawyer, and politician who has served as a senator of the Philippines since 2025. A former member of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, he served as the representative for the SAGIP Partylist from 2016 to 2025 and as the representative for the Alagad Party-list from 2004 to 2013. He is the first elected Philippine senator affiliated with the Iglesia ni Cristo.
During his tenure in the lower house, he chaired the Committee on Poverty Alleviation, and later the Special Committee on Globalization and WTO. Marcoleta also chaired the CA Committee on Public Works and Highways, and as assistant majority leader of the Commission on Appointments until he was unanimously expelled from five committees. He served as a senior deputy House majority leader from 2018 to 2019, and as a deputy speaker from 2019 to 2022.
Early life and education
Rodante Dizon Marcoleta was born on July 29, 1953, in Paniqui, Tarlac. His parents are farmers and he is the second among nine siblings.Marcoleta obtained a master's degree in business administration at the University of the East and a doctorate in public administration at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2020. He also accomplished a developmental leadership program at Harvard Kennedy School.
House of Representatives of the Philippines
Representing Alagad (2004–2013)
Marcoleta was elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippines under the 13th Congress representing the partylist of Alagad from 2004 to 2007, which sought to represent the urban poor sector in Congress. Marcoleta was among the twelve new partylist congressmen who were already millionaires before being sworn in. He was later reelected under Alagad twice to the 15th and 16th Congress, serving from 2007 until 2013.During his first term as congressman, Marcoleta was criticized for filing numerous bills and resolutions that were unrelated to issues concerning the urban poor, and was considered one of the leading proponents for family planning in the House of Representatives. In June 2005, Marcoleta endorsed the first impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano for "betrayal of public trust" in the aftermath of the Hello Garci scandal. As an administration congressman, Marcoleta explained that his intent was find out how truthful the electoral fraud allegations against the president were, and the decision to endorse was not influenced by the Iglesia ni Cristo. Minority Leader Francis Escudero criticized Marcoleta's decision due to it initiating a one-year-ban on filing for another impeachment, voicing his belief that the complaint was merely for show in order to prevent the opposition from filing its own impeachment complaint against president Arroyo.
In September 2014, the Commission on Audit reported that Marcoleta channeled ₱15 million of pork barrel funds to dubious NGOs during his term in Congress as Alagad party-list representative, as part of the pork barrel scam involving Janet Lim-Napoles. In 2016, the COA's pork barrel investigation included Marcoleta on its list of lawmakers whose pork barrel funds were allotted to dubious NGOs from 2007 to 2009.
Representing SAGIP (2016–2025)
In 2016, under the 17th Congress, he was elected party-list representative of the Social Amelioration and Genuine Intervention on Poverty, more commonly known by its abbreviation SAGIP. He is known as the proponent of slashing the budget of the Commission on Human Rights to. Marcoleta was one of the principal authors of the landmark law Magna Carta of the Poor, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2019.During the 18th Congress, he served as a house deputy speaker.
One of the vocal detractors against ABS-CBN, Marcoleta is one of the 70 representatives who voted to permanently deny the renewal of the network's franchise and is responsible for the termination of the landmark partnership deal between ABS-CBN and TV5.
On September 18, 2024, Marcoleta was removed as vice chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and replaced by representative Janette Garin of Iloilo's 1st district. A week later on September 25, Marcoleta was unanimously expelled from five further committees by the House of Representatives and replaced by Manila Teachers Party-list representative Virgilio Lacson. Although no explanation was given, his removal from the committees came after his actions opposing the House committees' investigations into Vice President Sara Duterte's fund utilization.
During a House inquiry on disinformation in 2025, Marcoleta falsely claimed that "there was no West Philippine Sea", that it is only a designation "created by us" and does not appear in maps. He was fact-checked for this claim. A few days thereafter, he backpedaled as his remark drew flak. He clarified that the label does not appear in international maps and that the sea is the Philippines' regardless of the name.
Ivermectin pantry
In April 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, Marcoleta and Anakalusugan party-list representative Mike Defensor initiated an "ivermectin pan-three" that distributes the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, despite warnings from the World Health Organization on the lack of evidence to support the drug's efficacy against COVID-19.Senate of the Philippines
Elections
2022 withdrawn election bid
In September 2021, Marcoleta was nominated by the PDP–Laban political party to run for senator in the 2022 Philippine Senate elections. On April 27, 2022, twelve days prior to the elections, Marcoleta withdrew his senatorial bid, citing his 'poor showing' in the surveys.2025 Senate election
On October 8, 2024, Marcoleta filed his candidacy for the 2025 Philippine Senate election as an independent candidate, and was one of the candidates of the DuterTen senatorial slate. He along seven other candidates received formal endorsement from his church, the Iglesia ni Cristo in May 2025 days prior to the election.Despite consistently placing outside the top twelve in surveys in the lead up to the election, Marcoleta was elected as a senator, placing sixth with more than 15 million votes.
Tenure
Marcoleta assumed office as senator on June 30, 2025. In the following month, shortly after the opening of the 20th Congress, he was named as a Senate deputy majority floor leader and the chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. As head of the Blue Ribbon Committee, Marcoleta led an investigation into the flood control projects controversy in the Philippines, where public funds were allegedly funneled to substandard and ghost projects to benefit a handful of favored contractors and government officials.He served in both capacities until September 8, 2025, when Senator Tito Sotto became the Senate President, replacing Senator Francis Escudero. On September 9, Marcoleta was named as a Senate deputy minority floor leader, alongside Senator Joel Villanueva.
At a hearing on corruption relating to government flood control projects, Senator Panfilo Lacson accused Marcoleta of protecting contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya, who allegedly benefited from anomalous flood control projects during the presidencies of Rodrigo Duterte and Bongbong Marcos. Less than a month later after replacing Marcoleta on the Blue Ribbon Committee, on October 6, 2025, Lacson resigned as chairman abruptly and submitted his resignation to Sotto.
In December 2025, election watchdog Kontra Daya and the Advocates of Public Interest Law filed a perjury complaint against Marcoleta before the Ombudsman, for failing to disclose campaign donations he received for the May 2025 elections.
Marcoleta has criticized Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela in January 2026 when the latter was rebuked by the Chinese Embassy for delivered a presentation which included satirical images of Chinese president Xi Jinping. Marcoleta viewed such action by Tarriella could be avoided. He criticized the government's transparency initiative and suggested the Philippines could be an ally if the South China Sea dispute is resolved.
Personal life
Marcoleta is married to Edna Magbitang of Anao, Tarlac. The couple has three children, including incumbent SAGIP Party-list Representative Paolo Marcoleta. Magbitang is an independent director of Stronghold Insurance Co. Inc. since February 2024.Marcoleta is a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo and his former partylist Alagad is noted for its association with the religion. His son Paolo Henry served as president of SAGIP Partylist. He is also the host of Net 25 public affairs program Sa Ganang Mamamayan '' and public service program Sagip Barangay ng Mamamayan in Action.