Napoles transfer to Laguna delayed

MANILA, Philippines - Businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles is not yet moving from the Makati City Jail to the Special Action Force (SAF) training school at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who inspected the facility at Fort Sto. Domingo yesterday, said Napoles would be transferred as soon as security enhancements to the bungalow where she would be detained are installed.

The bungalow has two bedrooms, a kitchen, water tank, two bathrooms, and a steel main gate. It is currently being used as an office and medical clinic by the SAF.

Roxas said among the security enhancements are closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to be installed inside and at the perimeter of the bungalow. He said security grills would also be added to the windows.

Except for a refrigerator, where she can keep her medicine, Napoles would not be allowed to keep other appliances in the bungalow, which has no air conditioner. She is also denied access to a mobile phone.

The bungalow was where former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari and Senator Gregorio Honasan had been detained.

Roxas said the security layout at Fort Sto. Domingo could better ensure Napoles’ protection compared to the Makati City Jail.

He said two perimeter gates secure the bungalow and some 300 SAF personnel would guard Napoles.

“There will be 300 SAF personnel and there is no other detainee here,” Roxas said.

“We will add more personnel. Whatever is the security package at Makati City Jail, we will bring them here,” he added.

Roxas said family members, lawyers and doctors of Napoles could only visit her at Fort Sto. Domingo.

Not taking chances

Roxas said the government is not giving Napoles any special treatment.

He said the government is just not taking chances, considering the public outrage amid allegations that she was the operator of the P10-billion congressional pork barrel scam.

“The preservation of her life is not because she is a VIP but we want her to face the judicial process,” he said.

Roxas said Fort Sto. Domingo also has sufficient medical personnel to aid Napoles in a medical emergency.

Nothing wrong

Malacañang also defended the participation of Cabinet officials in Napoles’ transfer to police custody.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said it was not the first time Cabinet members were asked to handle such tasks, adding that the government was merely ensuring the safety of Napoles.

“It is clear to us that this person is a key player from all accounts in this PDAF (priority development assistance fund) scam. It is also easy to surmise why she is facing threats to her life,” Valte told radio dzRB.

“The government wants to ensure that this woman would be reached by the arms of the law because she surrendered and the process should start,” she added.

Asked why Roxas was tapped to inspect the room at Fort Sto. Domingo where Napoles will be detained, Valte said, “President Aquino personally issued an instruction to Secretary Roxas and PNP (Philippine National Police) chief Director-General Alan Purisima.”

“The two officials are just making sure that they are carrying out the President’s instructions,” she said.

She cited the explosions in Serendra, San Juan, and Cagayan de Oro and natural calamities, when certain Cabinet officials were also ordered to be in control.

Valte also justified the presence of the President’s communication team – presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang and herself – during the transfer of Napoles to Makati City Jail last Thursday.

“We were there to handle media concerns,” she said. “Secretary Roxas asked us to assist him and we did not hesitate. We assist any Cabinet member who asks for our help.”

Valte said the communication team members were also on site during the Luneta hostage crisis and the Ayala bus explosion.

Key officials were also present when Napoles surrendered to Aquino last Wednesday. They were Lacierda, Carandang, Valte, Roxas, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras and Communication Undersecretary Manolo Quezon.

Protesters welcome

Meanwhile, Roxas said protesters are welcome at Fort Sto. Domingo, but they would only be allowed at the camp’s first perimeter gate.

“We welcome them. Protest marches are in the center of our democracy. There is nothing wrong with that,” he said.

Members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) staged a picket at the Makati City Jail yesterday to denounce what they described as the “royal treatment” Napoles is getting from the government.

The VACC also called on Congress to repeal Presidential Decree 749, which grants “immunity from prosecution to givers of bribes and other gifts and to their accomplices in bribery against public officers.”

“A briber can be exempted from prosecution and can go scot-free if he willingly testifies against the public officials who receive the bribe under certain conditions (as in the case of senators and congressmen) using the cloak of PD 749. He may tell on his partners in crime and be exempted from prosecution and possible conviction,” the VACC said in a statement.

VACC chairman Dante Jimenez said the alleged special treatment being given to Napoles is a “mockery of justice.”

A number of Negros Occidental officials hailed the surrender of Napoles, and expressed hope that the truth about the pork barrel scam would come out.

Fourth district Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer said the long arm of the law would eventually catch up with wrongdoers and it is better for Napoles to face her accusers.

Third district Rep. Alfredo Benitez said the truth should come out also to reform the system aside from punishing those found guilty.

“Napoles surrendered on the charge of serious illegal detention. What the Filipino people would like to see is the government taking her to court for plunder,” Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said. – With Alexis Romero, Danny Dangcalan