THE tradeoff looks rather obvious. After Solicitor General Jose Calida appealed to the Court of Appeals to overturn the conviction of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles in January, the appellate court suddenly found no evidence establishing beyond reasonable doubt that Napoles abducted and kept hostage her cousin, Benhur Luy, and acquitted her.
That same day, both Calida and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III said they were considering making Napoles a state witness in the numerous plunder cases filed in relation to the P10-billion peso pork barrel scam involving mostly ghost projects.
Many observers were surprised, nay shocked, when from out of the blue, Calida, the government’s top lawyer who was supposed to lead in prosecuting Napoles for plunder, filed a manifestation before the Court of Appeals – just six months into the administration of President Duterte — recommending the acquittal of Napoles for the crime of serious illegal detention of Luy, who happens to be the whistle-blower and top prosecution witness in the plunder cases against Napoles, three senators and many other elected and appointed officials.
Why the Office of the Solicitor General would file such a manifestation was difficult to comprehend even for top legal experts. But five legal experts interviewed by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) agreed that the OSG’s manifestation signals “a policy shift in how the Duterte administration wants to deal with Napoles, Luy, other state witnesses and the lawmakers who had been indicted in the plunder cases involving the misuse of pork barrel funds now pending trial before the Sandiganbayan.”
They described the move of the OSG under Duterte as “dangerous,” “alarming” and “shocking.”
Napoles had been sentenced by Makati Judge Elmo Alameda on April 14, 2015 to life in jail after a two-year trial. Napoles appealed to the Court of Appeals on Sept. 20, 2016, and just four months later, the OSG filed its manifestation recommending her acquittal. And less than four months later, the appellate court did just that.
The PCIJ report also noted: “Interestingly, just weeks before Napoles’ lawyers filed her “reply brief” in September 2016, President Duterte himself had brought up the notorious businesswoman’s case at a press conference in Davao City.”
Duterte was quoted as having said that the Napoles case should be revisited. “The Napoles case should deserve a second look,” Duterte said, “for it also involves corruption and (Senator Leila) de Lima.” Hmmm, interesting.
The President’s mention of De Lima as a target for the Napoles case revisit casts doubt on his sincerity in going after all those involved in the pork barrel scam. Many suspect with good reason that Napoles would be used to go after De Lima and other leading members of the opposition Liberal Party.
De Lima had said in the past that she rejected Napoles as a state witness because when asked by DOJ investigators to name the legislators involved in the pork scam, Napoles asked them instead who among the senators and congressmen did they want included in the list.
How can the prosecutors depend on a woman who is obviously willing to make false testimony to save her own skin? How can the judge believe a woman who boasted to her associates that as long as there is government, there is money to be made?
But De Lima herself had suggested twice in 2014 that Napoles could be a state witness. She said that between Gigi Reyes and Napoles turning state witness, she’d rather take Napoles because she would be able to name all the legsilators and officials involved in the scam. In August 2013, De Lima said she would not rule out tapping Napoles as a state witness, even though the law requires a state witness to be “not the most guilty of the crime charged.”
Of course, former Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla are big fishes and could be as guilty as Napoles in the shameless scheme. But Napoles, being the alleged mastermind and the biggest beneficiary of the fraud, is the biggest fish of all because she was reportedly involved in all transactions dating to the time of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
It’s like asking gang boss Al Capone to testify as state witness to bring all the politicians and policemen under his payroll to jail. It seems that Calida, Aguirre and Duterte would rather let go of the big fish, the alleged mastermind in the P10-billion pork barrel scam and the P900-million Malampaya fund mess, to go scot-free as long as she is able to jail the senators, lawmakers and other leaders of the opposition. Just like what then President Noynoy Aquino did to persecute Enrile, Estrada and Revilla, who were stalwarts of the then opposition party.
By all accounts, the 10 or so whistleblowers have made or submitted all testimonial and documentary evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Napoles, several congressmen and senators, and several bureaucrats conspired to rob the people of more than P10 billion in government funds through an elaborate scam that involved huge kickbacks, ghost projects, fake or fraudulent NGOs, forgery, and bribery.
What can Napoles contribute that his former workers and close confidantes, who handled all the transactions, handed over cash, and forged several signatures, have not already revealed or have documentary proofs of?
As the alleged mastermind and biggest beneficiary, Napoles could be considered among the worst abusers of the system and justice requires that she be treated as defendant, not as state witness.
Letting the biggest fish off the hook to get at Duterte’s worst critics is wrong, and smacks of selective justice! Making Napoles state witness and allowing her to go scot-free would only repeat the same errors and selective justice committed by the previous administration.
All that took part in that shameless scam should all go to jail, whether they are senators, congressmen, small and big bureaucrats, big or small contractors, and whether they are friendly to or critical of the administration. And that includes Janet Lim Napoles.
(valabelgas@aol.com)