Napoles, Cambe seek dismissal of ‘pork’ raps

MANILA, Philippines — Alleged pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and lawyer Richard Cambe, chief of staff of former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. from 2006 to 2009, are pushing for the dismissal of the plunder case filed against them by the Office of the Ombudsman on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its allegations.

Both of them have filed motions asking the Sandiganbayan to allow them to file a demurrer to evidence, a pleading that seeks the junking of a criminal case halfway through the trial.

Revilla himself, through his lawyers, has yet to file a similar request before the anti-graft court’s First Division, which is needed before an accused can actually move for the dismissal of the charges.

Demurrers to evidence basically argue that the prosecution, after resting its case and presenting all its witnesses, failed to prove its accusations with the evidence being too weak that there is not even a need for defense counsels to present a defense by putting its own witnesses on the stand. 

Revilla, Napoles and Cambe, along with a handful of other respondents, are facing plunder charges for alleged misuse of the former lawmaker’s pork barrel or priority development assistance fund allocations from 2006 to 2009.

The Office of the Ombudsman claims that the former senator received kickbacks or commissions amounting to P224.5 million in exchange for pork barrel funds that were misused by bogus non-government organizations  allegedly linked to Napoles through the implementation of ghost or fictitious projects.