MANILA, Philippines — A mere exchange of ideas was how Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday described a meeting at Malacañang with a lawyer of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles together with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
For his part, Medialdea also denied advising Napoles’ lawyer Stephen David to seek transfer of custody for the so-called pork barrel queen as she seeks to turn state witness in the scam.
“Why would I give legal advice to a lawyer for his client? If I were his client I would fire him,” Medialdea said.
David, who disclosed the meeting, declined to comment on the denials.
In a briefing at Malacañang yesterday, Aguirre confirmed the meeting with David but stressed they only discussed legal options to facilitate Napoles’ inclusion in the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
Medialdea did not give any legal advice but had to act when David sought his intervention to overrule the DOJ chief, Aguirre explained.
He said there was no attempt to pressure Napoles into spilling the beans on other government officials and lawmakers suspected of involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.
Justifying Napoles’ possible inclusion in the WPP, Aguirre explained that the plunder charges filed against her – being a private person – were “defective.”
Under provisional coverage, Aguirre said a witness can ask for security and transportation allowances from the government. Full coverage will not be extended until the supposed witness had executed an affidavit and a memorandum of agreement.
Napoles had already executed an affidavit in relation to “some violation of law of some government officials,” the DOJ secretary said.
“Once we put Janet Napoles under the WPP, we have to rely on her. In other words, bumilib na kami sa kanya, bago naming siya inilagay sa programa (she impressed us before we put her in the program),” he said.
“Once, she is put under the full coverage or protection of the WPP, that act of putting her as state witness will be binding upon our courts, including Sandiganbayan,” Aguirre said.
Contrary to public opinion, Aguirre emphasized Napoles does not appear to be the most guilty in the pork barrel scam.
“As to the statement of Janet, that would be a matter of credibility and we cannot say it yet for now,” Aguirre added.
“To be clear, before you are admitted to the WPP, the basic is that you should not appear to be the most guilty. In other words, Janet Lim-Napoles will not become state witness if she appears to be the most guilty,” he said.
“As between co-conspirators both almost equally guilty. One is guilty of inducement, and the other guilty of direct participation or indispensible cooperation – both principal (accused). The rule of the court is that a principal by inducement is considered more guilty,” Aguirre pointed out.
He noted that the Supreme Court has given weight to a co-conspirator who induced the commission of a crime. He said a person who paid a gunman to kill somebody is more guilty that the one who pulled the trigger.
“As between two or three equally guilty, who is more guilty? The public officer or a private person, who just finished high school. So dito lang ha parang may depektibo na ang charges ng Sandiganbayan sa kanya eh (So even here there’s already a defect in the charges before the Sandiganbayan),” Aguirre said.
“The charge is plunder, and plunder is a charge against government official. Thus, I believe that under the circumstances, the public official is more guilty. In both instances Janet Napoles could be put under the coverage of the WPP, because she does not appear to be most guilty,” Aguirre said.
On pitting former whistle-blower Benhur Luy against Napoles, Aguirre said the appreciation of the circumstances would be left to the courts.
No suspicious meeting
Aguirre also urged the media not to give any meaning to the meeting with Napoles’ lawyer.
David had sought Medialdea’s advice regarding Napoles’ move to spill the beans on individuals in the pork barrel scam.
“Actually, it’s not even a meeting. He just went … appealing to ES (executive secretary) to reverse my decision,” Aguirre said.
He also revealed meeting with Napoles some two months ago, but declined to provide details.
David earlier revealed before the Sandiganbayan that he met with Medialdea and other Cabinet officials purportedly to discuss the inclusion of Napoles in the WPP.
The DOJ secretary also revealed that David went straight to Medialdea to urge him to convince Aguirre to overrule his decision – but to no avail. “It was not a legal advice. Actually, he talked to ES Medialdea to appeal my opinion that we at the DOJ (Department of Justice) could not order her transfer,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre and Medialdea shared the same view that permission should be asked from the Sandiganbayan before the WPP can start eyeing Napoles as state witness or even cause her transfer from detention to the WPP safehouse.
“It was not a consultation. He wants that I am overruled by a seeming representative of the Office of the President because I do not want to agree that I will just spring Janet Napoles out of the jail, and bring her to WPP. I said that cannot be done,” Aguirre added.
He said he and Medialdea urged the lawyer to file a motion with the Sandiganbayan.
“They were the ones who approached us and I believe that justice will be done if Janet Napoles will be allowed to speak and tell the whole truth about this. Because so much time had passed,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre’s stand that she should go to the Sandiganbayan to determine if they could be covered by the DOJ.
“He is just giving his opinion,” Aguirre said.
No authority
For opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, Aguirre simply has no authority to recruit Napoles as a state witness.
He told a news conference that the ombudsman’s special prosecutor and the Sandiganbayan are the ones “vested with the authority to convert Napoles from an accused to a state witness.”
He cited the Rules of Court on criminal procedure, which provide that “upon motion of the prosecution before resting its case, the court may direct one or more of the accused to be discharged with their consent so that they may be witnesses for the state.”
He said the rules also prescribe that a state witness must “not appear to be the most guilty.”
“Verily, it is the special prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman who shall initially determine the qualification of Napoles to become a state witness. Upon motion of the prosecutor, the Sandiganbayan has the jurisdiction to decide whether or not to discharge Napoles as state witness,” Lagman said.
“Under any standard, one who is accused as the mastermind for plotting and executing the crime, like Napoles, cannot pretend not to be the most guilty,” he said.
Napoles, former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. and their senior aides are facing plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged misuse of billions in pork barrel funds of the three senators.
Enrile and Estrada are out on bail, while Revilla is still under detention.
According to the Commission on Audit, the senators’ funds ended up in bogus foundations associated with Napoles.
Revilla said, however, the inclusion of Napoles in the WPP would be good and might even exonerate him. He said none of the accusations against him had been proven and that he did not even know Napoles personally.
He said being the only one remaining in detention in relation to the pork barrel scam is unfair.
Special treatment
Sen. Grace Poe slammed the DOJ for giving special treatment to Napoles.
“How can Janet Lim Napoles not appear as most guilty when she has been identified as the ‘pork barrel queen?’ The pieces of evidence against her even led to the indictment and detention of several high profile public officials,” Poe said in a statement.
“The government’s witness protection program is there to protect and secure qualified witnesses, so we can conclude the case. Why do we need to provide special treatment to a particular person?” Poe said.
The Liberal Party (LP) said that recent events have made it clear that the government is working with the camp of Napoles to provide her protection under the WPP.
“The cat is out of the bag on who’s behind the bold moves of pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim Napoles in securing protection from the Department of Justice,” the LP said.
“What prompted these top officials to reach out to an alleged mastermind of a multibillion-peso scam? Who sanctioned this? Malacañang’s statement that the President is taking a hands-off stance on this appears not to jibe with the actions of his top executives,” it added.
Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, an LP member, said that Napoles is clearly being used by the administration to harass the opposition.
“I think at this point if she will identify some people, it may be dependent on what was promised to her. I think we had very fair hearings here and she was asked point blank to name all the names of people she had dealings with and so now it’s very suspect,” Aquino said. – Jess Diaz, Marvin Sy, Michael Punongbayan