Court of Appeals refuses to allow Napoles to go on bail

Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind: businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles. PNP Photo

MANILA — The Court of Appeals (CA) has refused to allow businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles to go on bail.

Napoles is the alleged “brains” behind the P10-billion pork barrel and the P900-million Malampaya Fund scams.

This, after the CA did not stop the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) with the plea of Napoles to allow her to post bail in the serious illegal detention case filed against her for allegedly abducting Benhur Luy.

In a two-page resolution of the CA Special 7th Division, it instead ordered Makati City RTC Branch 150 Presiding Judge Elmo Alameda and whistleblower Luy to submit their explanation in the petition for certiorari filed by Napoles on April 10, 2014.

The resolution was dated May 14, 2014 and written by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.

It was concurred by Associate Justices Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla and Edwin Sorongon.

The respondents were given a period of 10 days within which to file their respective comments from notice of the same while Napoles will be allowed to file her reply.

“Without necessarily giving due course to the petition, respondents are hereby Directed to file a comment to the said petition within 10 days from notice. Petitioner may file a Reply within 5 days from receipt of the comment,” the CA resolution said.

The CA also ordered the parties to inform them of “any pending or subsequently filed (case) involving the same parties and issues as in the instant petition within 5 days from learning of the same.”

Napoles questioned the Feb. 12, 2014 order and the Nov. 21, 2013 Makati City RTC ruling denying her motion reconsideration (MR) to go on bail.

In denying Napoles, Alameda ruled that Napoles did not raise new arguments and the matters raised in her MR have already been weighed and passed upon by the court.