Solons hit SolGen for taking Napoles’s side

Congressmen belonging to Leftist partylist groups are appalled by moves made by the state’s top attorney to seek the acquittal of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles of a serious illegal detention charge.

Members of the Makabayan bloc said they are sickened by the recommendation for Napoles acquittal that was sought by Solicitor General Jose Calida even as he supported the arrest of peace negotiation consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said Calida’s siding with Napoles has raised serious concerns about the sincerity of government’s anti-graft campaign.

“It’s very ironic that he would recommend Napoles acquittal while on the other hand, he pushes for the arrest of those who are advocating peace in the country,” said Zarate.

Zarate, together with ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, thumbed down proposals by a Duterte lawyer to tap Napoles as state witness in the plunder cases filed against former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, and Jinggoy Estrada.

“Dapat sagutin ito ni Pangulong Duterte dahil isa sa mga advisers niya ang nagpapahiwatig na gawing state witness si Napoles (President Duterte should explain why one of his advisers is proposing to appoint Napoles state witness),” Tinio said.

Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said the public should not expect that government to be serious about its anti-graft and corruption program if it will insist on pushing for Napoles’ freedom.

As trust in the ability of government lawyers to support cases against suspected grafters, the three solons said they will throw their support to a bill that would grant private lawyers the authority to help prosecute graft and plunder cases.

Zarate said the bill is still pending in Congress but worthy of support due to the OSG’s action on the Napoles case.

Calida had asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to reverse a decision by the lower court to convict Napoles of serious illegal detention filed by her cousin and PDAF scam whistleblower, Benhur Luy. Napoles daughter

faces CTA case In a related development, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) dismissed yesterday the petition of Napoles’ daughter, Catherine Jeanne, to review the P19-million tax evasion case filed against her by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The CTA Second Division dropped the petition of Napoles’ daughter even before a deliberation could be conducted.

It decided not to review the petition anymore after the young Napoles snubbed the trial for the third consecutive time, which questioned the validity of the BIR tax assessment.

The case against the young Napoles arose from the alleged non-filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for 2011 and 2012 despite acquiring huge assets during the period, including a unit at the high-end Ritz Carlton Hotel in California USA worth more than 154 million.

Her lawyer Stephen David said earlier that Ms. Napoles did not file any tax return for the period because she had no income. (With a report from Jun Ramirez)