Napoles’ bid for transfer of custody to DoJ denied

THE SANDIGANBAYAN denied Janet Lim-Napoles’ urgent motion for transfer of her custody to the Department of Justice (DoJ) Witness Protection Program ( WPP).

The graft court’s first division, in its April 5 resolution, said the alleged pork- barrel queen’s motion was denied for “lack of merit.”

“Napoles’ disclosure of her provisional coverage does not appear to be with a written order of the DoJ or this Court, which is a serious breach of confidentiality of her coverage,” the resolution stated.

Ms. Napoles, currently within the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) moved to be transferred to a housing facility maintained by the WPP after claiming there are threats to her life and security.

The court, however, maintained Ms. Napoles is not a state witness and that privileges of the WPP can only be granted to witnesses whose acceptance in the program is considered regular.

“Accused Napoles’ acceptance under the WPP is merely provisional, which means that she has yet to comply with the additional requirements in order for her admission to become regular,” the resolution noted.

Ms. Napoles on February 27 was admitted in the WPP under provisional law protection, authorized by then justice secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II. The move was based on Ms. Napoles’ claim that she is “ready to tell all” regarding the P10billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

Mr. Aguirre in an interview on Tuesday said: “I stood by my action in keeping Napoles in the WPP under the provisional law protection. I believe that it is correct that Napoles be allowed to testify, to tell everything, spill the beans and everybody. Para ‘ yung guilty, may kinalaman, ‘ yung involved would be brought before the DoJ ( So, that those who are guilty and involved would be brought before the DoJ).”

His successor, Menardo I. Guevarra also said on Tuesday: “If only these things did not happen, these series of events that sort of raised eyebrows on the part of the public about the actuations of the Department of Justice, I believe that Sec Vic (Mr. Aguirre) would still be enjoying the trust of the President and would continue to be the Sec(retary) of Justice.” — with