Janet Napoles now under witness protection program

FILE: Businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam mastermind, is now placed under provisional coverage of the Witness Protection Program (WPP), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday, March 16. (PNA photo)

Businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam mastermind, is now placed under provisional coverage of the Witness Protection Program (WPP), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday, March 16.

Napoles has been “provisionally covered” by the Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program (WPSBP) since February 27, 2018, according to a copy of the DOJ certification signed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Ma. Nerissa Molina-Carpio.

This certification was used by Napoles’ lawyers as they filed an urgent motion before the Sandiganbayan to transfer her from Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig to the Justice department’s custody.

The WPP, a program established under Republic Act No. 6981, seeks to encourage an individual who has witnessed or has knowledge of the commission of a crime to testify before a court or quasi-judicial body by protecting the person from reprisals and from economic dislocation.

Last May 2017, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that the government is looking at the possibility of turning Napoles into a state witness as they plan to reopen the investigation on the pork barrel scam.

The suspected pork barrel queen in the same month revealed that she has been receiving death threats since she expressed her bid to become a state witness so she asked for protection.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, however, said that she will block any attempt that will make Napoles a state witness.

“As [far as] the prosecution is concerned, she is one of the principal alleged malefactors. We don’t find her to be a candidate for being state witness,” Carpio-Morales earlier said.

The Justice department can only put anyone under the WPP but turning an individual into a state witness is not under its control.

Under Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedures, it is the court that decides who gets to be a state witness “upon the motion of the prosecution before resting its case.” In this case, it is the Sandiganbayan that serves as the court.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman, the body that prosecuted the case, can recommend or endorse to the court individuals qualified to become state witnesses.

Napoles, along with former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, were charged with multiple plunder and graft in connection with the alleged illegal disbursements of the PDAF.

On Tuesday, Napoles filed a motion before the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan requesting to dismiss the graft and malversation raps against her regarding the P900-million Malampaya fund scam, defending that charges against her should be dismissed as she is not a public official.