Lawyer on Napoles' daughter lifestyle: 'Afford nila'

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer of Janet Lim-Napoles, identified to have  allegedely benefited from the scheme to transfer pork barrel funds to bogus organizations, insisted that her client's daughter, Jeane, can rightly show off the family's wealth as it belongs to them.

"The bottom line is, afford nila. It is not ill-gotten wealth, they do not have a single contract with government. They have not owned a single peso from any of these public funds," lawyer Lorna Kapunan said in a radio interview Wednesday night.

The younger Napoles, 23, has received much criticism after her blog where she posted photos of a new Porsche car, said to be her parents' graduation gift, was discovered online.

A video showing her ritzy 21st birthday party in Hollywood also received hundreds of thousands of views following her mother's alleged involvement in the exposed scheme channeling billions of congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund to non-existent non-government organizations.

Kapunan said that any parent would also be proud to have a child as Jeane, whom Napoles said to have graduated with Latin honors in college.

"I always say when I am asked, kung mayroon akong kayamanan ng kaunti at nakapag-magna cum laude ang aking anak sa isang US university, bibigyan ko din siya ng Porsche, bibigyan ko din siya ng Chanel kung afford ko ... They have their own money that they gave to their child who instead of persecuting, we should be proud of," the lawyer said.

Kapunan said she would not defend the Napoles family from accusations by so-called whistleblowers such as Merlina Suñas if they were true, challenging them to reveal sufficient evidence.

"Where is the evidence? Kaya kami na po ang magfa-file so that they will present whatever evidence they have before the proper forum, huwag judgment by the media. If they are able to produce any evidence at all that Mrs. Napoles engineered this and that she received and misused public funds, I will be the first to file a case against her," she said.

Kapunan said that their camp will present evidence showing that Napoles' implication in the scandal is absurd.

"The evidence that we have is a testimony under oath by the driver of Mrs. Napoles who finally comes forward and says, ‘Ginamit po ako ni Benhur, pinapirma pa ako ng dokumento, ang sabi niya para sa tulong ito para sa nangangailangan’," she added.

Cyberspace, meanwhile, is still brimming with comments on Jeane's way of living apparently amid luxury items and posh environments.

Moral of the story for the Jeane Napoles hoopla - don't post your posh lifestyle on the interweb for cyberbullies will come and get you.

— Melanie Eusebio (@melaniegeusebio) August 1, 2013

Lesson of the story (and people will prolly hate me for this): At least KNOW where your parents get your money. Jean/Jeane Napoles.

— Naddzie Pacis (@naddzie) August 1, 2013

Grabe yung Ritz-Carlton property ni Jeane Napoles. Babait ng mga Pilipino, binilhan natin siya ng magandang unit gamit buwis natin.

— Tiffany Corregidor (@tiffcorregidor) July 31, 2013