Napoles eyeing plea bargain in ‘pork’ cases
While being groomed as a state witness, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles is eyeing a plea bargain deal with the government for the plunder and other cases against her before the Sandiganbayan.
“There are several options we are looking into and one of those is plea bargaining. There are many options for us,” Stephen David, Napoles’ lawyer, said yesterday in an interview.
David earlier revealed meeting with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II before seeking the transfer of Napoles from detention at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City to the custody of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under a provisional coverage in the witness protection program.
David, Medialdea and Aguirre were schoolmates at the San Beda College law school along with President Duterte.
The private lawyer said he’s a friend of the President since a “long, long time ago.”
But Aguirre said he wasn’t sure if Napoles could still be eligible for plea-bargain agreement considering the status of pending plunder cases in the Sandiganbayan.
“I think it might be too late for that (plea bargain deal). I don’t know the status of the cases there in the Sandiganbayan, if that is still feasible,” he stressed in a text message when sought for comment.
Aguirre said Napoles would no longer need any plea-bargain deal in the possible new cases once she qualifies as state witness.
“She need not apply for plea bargain because if she becomes state witness, she will not be charged in the new cases to be filed,” he explained.
The DOJ chief said his office continues to evaluate the eligibility of Napoles for full coverage in the WPP as the detained businesswoman has yet to complete her affidavits.
“But as I said, she could qualify as state witness,” he hinted.
In a plea bargain deal, as provided for in the Rules of Court, a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor.
Previously, the Sandiganbayan approved a plea bargain deal in the P303-million plunder case against former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia in May 2011. After returning P135 million of the plundered money, the former military officer was allowed to plead guilty to two lesser offenses and post a P60,000 bail that gave him temporary freedom.
The DOJ has placed Napoles under provisional coverage of WPP.
Under Republic Act 6981 (Witness Protection Act), before a person is admitted into the WPP, he or she shall execute a sworn statement describing in detail the manner in which the offense was committed and his or her participation in it.
Napoles had reportedly tagged Sens. Franklin Drilon, Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima and other lawmakers as well as former budget secretary Florencio Abad in her affidavit. She supposedly tagged Abad as her “mentor” or “instigator” of the scheme.
But Aguirre would not confirm the contents of Napoles’ affidavits, saying these are still under assessment and verification. He also cited the confidentiality rule under the WPP law.
Distrustful
Senators, meanwhile, were divided on whether Napoles should be given an opportunity to speak out again regarding the pork barrel scam.
Sens. Grace Poe, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros were of the opinion that Napoles could not be trusted.
Poe said that Napoles, tagged as the mastermind of the alleged misuse of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel, was not worthy of government protection at all.
“Is there no one else available to secure new evidence regarding this case? For me, this is of no value at all because if she has done all these things then this is nothing but an attempt to save herself,” Poe said.
“I cannot trust her. I don’t see how she can be trusted when we all know that this is self-preservation; saving herself is her primary consideration here,” she added.
De Lima, the DOJ chief when the pork barrel scam was investigated, said the case of Napoles was very clear and the evidence found against her should keep her in jail for the rest of her life.
“Now Aguirre wants the Sandiganbayan to bow to Malacañang’s wish and throw away all the evidence against Napoles and turn her over to the DOJ. They’re helping her attain freedom so they can use her for their own malevolent agenda,” De Lima said.
“We charged even PNoy’s allies, like Ruffy Biazon and Joel Villanueva. And they still call it selective justice, just because those who they wanted to be destroyed were not included,” she said.
“We did not charge others in the so-called Napoles list because there was then no evidence against them – even by COA’s own records on how they spent their PDAF, much less based on the documents and testimonies of the whistleblowers,” she added.
However, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that it is prudent to listen to what Napoles has to say first before making judgments.
Pimentel said Napoles’ new testimony would have to be compared to her previous statements to see if there are any inconsistencies.