Napoles asks Sandiganbayan to reconsider bail plea

MANILA, Philippines — Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles on Wednesday filed a motion for reconsideration before the Sandiganbayan to reverse its decision to junk her bail petition.

The camp of Napoles, who is facing plunder charges, asked the anti-graft court to take a second look at the facts governing the case.

"The Honorable Court seriously erred in resolving that there is a strong evidence showing that accused Napoles together with her alleged co-accused amassed, accumulated, and/or acquire ill-gotten wealth amounting to at least (P50 million)," the Napoles camp said in the petition.

The petition also argued that the court erred in holding that the non-government organizations allegedly used as conduit in the pork barrel scam were owned and controlled by Napoles.

"The prosecution clearly failed to prove a strong evidence against accused Napoles to warrant the denial of her petition for bail," the petition said.

Napoles spent Christmas and New Year in jail last year after the Sandiganbayan denied her petition for bail.

The Sandiganbayan has started the trial proper for the plunder charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against Napoles and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s former chief of staff Jessica "Gigi" Reyes.