Palace on Janet: No deal, no policy shift

MANILA, Philippines - There is no “policy shift” on how the Duterte administration deals with alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, Malacañang said yesterday after the Court of Appeals acquitted her of illegal detention charges.

“Government is clear, that there is no policy shift on how we deal with Napoles. Neither is there an agreement forged between the Duterte administration and Napoles,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo brushed aside suspicions that the Duterte administration has struck a deal with the camp of Napoles.

There is speculation that the administration wants her to testify on more alleged wrongdoing attributed to Sen. Leila de Lima, who was justice secretary when the prosecution of Napoles was launched.

“The Duterte administration has never, will never and can never enter into sweetheart deals. It’s very strict on the observance of the rule of law and following the constitutional due process,” Panelo told reporters yesterday.

“The Court of Appeals has spoken and we respect the decision. As we always say, it’s the court that will decide whether the evidence presented before it will entitle the accused to an acquittal or a conviction,” he added.

Abella said the acquittal would not have a direct impact on Napoles’ pork barrel cases.

“President Duterte has repeatedly asserted the independence of the three branches of government. He has vowed not to interfere with the decisions of the judiciary or legislature and assures the people that he will respect and not influence the results of their decision,” he added.

“The tri-partite separation of powers will be strictly observed under this administration.”

The Office of the Solicitor General has recommended to the appellate court the acquittal of Napoles for serious illegal detention of her second cousin, pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.

The move has created speculations that the Duterte administration has struck a deal with Napoles, who has accused several politicians of diverting congressional funds to non-existent projects and groups.

The Makati Regional Trial Court sentenced Napoles to a 40-year jail term for serious illegal detention in 2015.

The Office of the Solicitor General believes though that the court had erred in convicting Napoles, noting that Luy was allowed to meet with his family three times.

Panelo said the acquittal would not affect Luy’s credibility as pork barrel scam witness.

“In the illegal detention cases, while the court might not have believed him, in the plunder cases, it’s not only him being presented. Meaning to say, there will corroborative evidence, whether in the form of documents or corroborative witnesses,” Panelo said.

“If Benhur Luy will testify in court and it could be corroborated by other witnesses, supported by documents, then he becomes credible, insofar as plunder cases are concerned,” he added.

The camp of Napoles is seeing a ray of hope that she will likewise be acquitted of the plunder cases over her alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Dennis Buenaventura, one of the lawyers of Napoles in her pork barrel scam cases before the Sandiganbayan, said the CA decision dismissing the illegal detention case against her is a big boost to their camp’s contention that the testimony of pork scam primary state witness Benhur Luy must not be given any credence by the anti-graft court.

“This (CA ruling) definitely affects his credibility. As you recall, the evidence of the prosecution is based only on the statements of Benhur and nothing else. With this, the prosecution has no more evidence to talk of,” Buenaventura said.

“He had been claiming that he was detained by Napoles to prevent him from spilling the beans on the pork barrel scam. Now, it turns out that there was no detention that ever happened. Now, the CA ruling shows that he cannot be relied upon. We cannot depend on his words,” he added.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday said that they are considering turning Napoles into a government witnesses in the review of the PDAF scam.

Aguirre said he has been discussing with former Manila councilor Greco Belgica the possibility of communicating with Napoles to determine if she would be willing to cooperate in the review of the PDAF cases.

“Our partner here in the buildup of the case is Greco Belgica since he is the one who made a study on this matter (PDAF),” said Aguirre.

Belgica was among those who filed a petition asking the Supreme Court (SC) to declare the PDAF or pork barrel unconstitutional. In 2013, the SC found PDAF to be unconstitutional.

The DOJ secretary believes that Napoles could be a credible government witness if she would be able to substantiate her testimonies with evidence.

Aguirre also said that he respects the decision of the CA to acquit Napoles of the crime of serious illegal detention.

But he also said that the CA ordered her release, but since she is being tried for other plunder cases with the Sandiganbayan, she might have to remain in detention.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Jose Calida hailed the CA for upholding his position in the Napoles serious illegal detention case.

“I commend the magistrates of the 12th Division of the Court of Appeals for doing what is right based on the evidence before them,” Calida said.

Asked whether this has any bearing on Napoles’ pork barrel cases, the solicitor general said that Napoles’ serious illegal detention case is totally different and independent from other cases pending against her.

Last Jan. 11, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed in the Napoles case a Manifestation in Lieu of a Rejoinde, stating that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not support the conviction beyond reasonable doubt of Napoles for serious illegal detention. – With Elizabeth Marcelo, Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero