SC upholds Ombudsman indictment of Napoles aide

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman that indicted for plunder and graft a staff member of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

In a resolution, the SC dismissed the petition filed by Robert John Lim as it affirmed the Ombudsman’s ruling issued in 2014.

The SC ruled that Lim “miserably failed to show” that the Ombudsman gravely abused its discretion in finding probable cause against him.

It said that Lim’s arguments had been resolved in an earlier decision that affirmed the filing of criminal cases against Richard Cambe, then chief of staff of former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

“We are inclined to do no less in the present case. We recognize that the acts in Cambe, which related to the illegal pillaging of public funds sourced from the PDAF of then Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr., occurred within the same timeline as the acts in the present case,” the SC said.

In the Cambe decision, the SC held that “as correctly pointed out by the Ombudsman,” whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Merlina Suñas had narrated that Lim was among the staff of Napoles who would prepare and deliver the kickbacks intended for Senator Revilla.

It pointed out that Lim’s failure to file a counter-affidavit before the Ombudsman was a waiver of his right. Thus, it said, the allegations against Lim remained uncontroverted.