Sandiganbayan junks Napoles’s motion seeking transfer to DOJ custody

FILE: The motion of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles seeking transfer of custody to the Department of Justice (DOJ) under its Witness Protection Program (WPP) was denied by Sandiganbayan’s First Division. (PNA photo)

The motion of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles seeking transfer of custody to the Department of Justice (DOJ) under its Witness Protection Program (WPP) was denied by Sandiganbayan’s First Division.

In a resolution promulgated on April 5 and obtained yesterday, April 10, by the media, the anti-graft court’s First Division said that Napoles cannot be transferred to the DOJ’s safehouse, saying that a detained respondent cannot be turned to a state witness.

Under Section 1, Article IX of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 6981, the program “shall not take into its protective custody a witness who is under detention for any lawful cause. However, it shall direct the custodian of the witness take necessary measures to ensure safety of the witness.”

The resolution, signed by Associate Justices Efren dela Cruz, Geraldine Faith Econg, and Edgardo Caldona, pointed out that placing Napoles in the WPP despite being lawfully detained “is contrary to the clear and express import” of the law.

The court also said that there is “no question” in Napoles’s continued detention at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), as the Sandiganbayan already found a strong evidence against the accused to hold her for trial in line with the multi-billion-peso scam.

The anti-graft court’s Third and Fifth Division have yet to rule on the same motion.

Aside from the three divisions of the Sandiganbayan that handle Napoles’s plunder charges, the newly-appointed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also vowed to review the DOJ’s actions on the case of the accused as it is one of the top priorities in view of the public interest.

In her motion, Napoles earlier cited that “there were recorded incidents of harassments, intimidation and threats on her life and security, which could be avoided if the DOJ-WPP would be allowed to perform its mandate to protect the accused-movant.”

She claims that she is being threatened and harassed over her knowledge of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scheme, making her “security a concern.”