Napoles tags De Lima in extort try

Accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles yesterday revealed that Senator Leila De Lima attempted to extort money from her during her stint as Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Napoles made the revelation when pressed to comment on the statements made by Solicitor General Jose Calida and President Duterte that her serious illegal detention case should be dismissed.

"Wala naman po talagang illegal detention na nangyari. Ito po ay extortion lamang. Dismissed na po ang kaso na 'to sa DOJ noon pa, (There really is no illegal detention that took place. This is simple extortion. The case has long been dismissed by the DOJ)," she said.

When asked who was extorting from her, Napoles dropped the bombshell and tagged De Lima, who is also in detention after drug charges were filed agaiasnt her by the DOJ last month. De Lima rejected Napoles’ claim. In a statement issued by her Senate staff, De Lima said she is no longer surprised with Napoles’ statement given that the purported mastermind in the scam has a propensity to lie. (With a report from Hannah L. Torregoza)