EDITORIAL - State witness

As she prepared to undergo a surgery to remove a myoma in her uterus, controversial businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles was also busy fighting it out for her admission to the witness protection program of the Department of Justice.

The main accused in the P10-billion pork barrel scam who is now facing a plunder case had a meeting with DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima for hours on Tuesday in her bid to be accepted as state witness.

Her move had received mixed reactions. Many said having her admitted as state witness would bolster the allegations of pork barrel misuse against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Revilla Jr., her co-accused in the plunder case.

Others would balk at the idea, contending that a main accused should never be made a government witness. Napoles is a main accused of a major crime and, for many, her move was just another ploy to paint her as less guilty.

Under the law, only those with lesser participation in crimes are considered state witness materials. And based on this provision, it's hard for the woman dubbed as the "pork barrel queen" to be admitted in the DOJ program.

The public understands that Napoles is out to exhaust all means to escape from the plunder charge, a heinous crime. Her only chance to walk free is through turning into a government witness in a case many pointed to her as the mastermind.

So to clear her name, Napoles would need to launch an all-out assault against lawmakers accused of pocketing millions of their own development funds. It was reported that aside from Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla, there are some senators and congressmen who allegedly conspired with her in the pork barrel misuse.

Whether Napoles is worthy to be admitted in the DOJ program will depend largely on its findings. However, should the justice department find her a valuable witness in the case against those lawmakers, a serious backlash would likely be expected.