Napoles claims belongings ransacked at BJMP cell
In her bid to be placed under the custody of the Department of Justice (DOJ), businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles has submitted before the Sandiganbayan an incident report detailing the supposed ransacking of her belongings inside her detention cell at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.
Napoles submitted the incident report signed by officials of Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)’s Female Dormitory before the court’s First, Third and Fifth Divisions, in which she has a pending motion to be transferred from the custody of the BJMP to the DOJ under its witness protection program (WPP).
During the hearing of Napoles’ motion on Monday, her lawyer Stephen David claimed the businesswoman was experiencing threat and harassment in her current place of detention. David said Napoles’ detention cell was “bolt-cut” and her personal things were ransacked sometime in October last year.
The magistrates of the anti-graft court, however, said Napoles must present evidence to prove her claim, including the submission of an incident report from the BJMP Female Dormitory where she is currently detained.
Based on the submitted incident report, a greyhound team composed of about 40 men arrived at the BJMP Female Dormitory at midnight on Oct. 12, 2017. The team supposedly began its search operation at Napoles’ jail cell at 3 a.m.
The incident report stated that “the greyhound team entered the cell by cutting the chain/lock with the use of a bolt cutter and kicking off the door to open.”
A male jail officer, wearing a mask and in full battle gear with long firearms, bodily searched Napoles, the report added.
The report was signed by officerof-the-day Senior Jail Officer 1 Ruth Adorna and jail warden Jail Chief Insp. Editha Balansay.
The report said the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera was also disabled during the search operation.
Adorna and Balansay also said the greyhound team did not coordinate or seek permission of the detailed “Star Team” on duty before entering Napoles’ jail cell to conduct the search operation.
Napoles’ personal belongings and “important documents” were confiscated during the operation, the incident report said.
Napoles’ motion for transfer of custody came after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II confirmed to the media on Friday last week that she was provisionally admitted to the WPP.
Aguirre said the affidavit of Napoles, dubbed as the “queen” of the pork barrel scam, was still undergoing assessment by his office.
Napoles is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa for plunder cases as co-accused of former senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada in connection with the alleged misuse of millions of pesos worth of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel.