Sandiganbayan reduces Napoles children’s bail

The Sandiganbayan Third Division granted the appeal of the children of Janet Lim Napoles to have their bail reduced in their 97 graft and 97 malversation with falsification charges involving the 1900-million Malampaya fund scam case.

Jo Christine Napoles, Christopher Napoles, and Napoles’ brother Ronald Francisco Lim were earlier required to pay a whopping 122,310,000 for their provisional liberty after they were charged.

The Office of the Ombudsman recommended a 130,000 bail per graft charge and 1200,000 per malversation through falsfication charge, but Napoles’ children said in their motion that the total amount is “not only overwhelming but disheartening as well.”

They pleaded with the court to let them pay 1690,000 each instead, which corresponds to three times the amount of recommended bail for the most severe charge for both malversation through falsification and graft.

Eventually, the court decided to reduce the amount of recommended bail for graft to just 17,500 for each count and 150,000 for each count of malversation through falsification

They bail has been set at 15,577,500, which is a 116.7 million less than the original amount.

They were implicated in the diversion of 1 900 million from the Malampaya fund that was allocated by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from 2009 to 2010.

The Malampaya fund was sourced from the government’s share in royalties and rentals on the oil and gas operations in the Camago-Malampaya reservoir in northern Palawan.

Back in 2009, it was agreed that 1900 million from the special fund was to be used to help farmers who were affected by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

However, the funds were somehow diverted to the bogus non-government organizations linked to Napoles. (Czarina Nicole O. Ong)