Unrepentant Thief
By Manny Pinol
People who expected that Janet Lim Napoles, the suspected mastermind of the P10-B pork barrel scam, would kneel in a confessional box, chant “mea culpa” and admit her sins could be in for a big disappointment.
Yesterday, Napoles’ lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, came out swinging and accused the lawyer handling the one dozen or so whistleblowers of “persecuting” her client.
Kapunan also said she will ask the Court of Appeals to lift the freeze order it had issued against some 400 bank accounts in the name of Napoles or people identified with her.
Here is the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s report on Kapunan’s latest legal move:
“Kapunan, Napoles’ lawyer, said she would file a petition at the appellate court this week to lift the freeze order on the accounts, saying the freeze order was illegal.
“According to Kapunan, a freeze order “can only be issued in connection with a plunder case” but since no case had been filed yet, the freeze order had no basis.
“Kapunan said she would invoke “equal protection” in trying to convince the appellate court to lift the freeze order, saying the case her client currently faced was not plunder, but serious illegal detention in connection with the abduction and captivity of Benhur Luy, a cousin of Napoles and the main witness against the alleged scam queen.
“The serious illegal detention case, according to Kapunan, is not even basis for freezing Napoles’ accounts because no money was involved in it. Had it been a case of kidnapping for ransom, according to Kapunan, then the freeze order would have had basis.
“Where is the money involved in the serious illegal detention (case)?” Kapunan asked.
“The freeze order, she added, “can only be based on testimonial hearsay, self-serving evidence of these self-styled whistle-blowers or on the COA report.”
“If the freeze order had been based only on the witnesses’ testimony, Kapunan said then her client had been denied due process.
“If the basis is the COA report then why were the 82 so-called bogus NGOs that were allegedly involved in the PDAF not all frozen?” Kapunan said.
“And if it was the COA report that was the basis for the freeze order, they should have also frozen the accounts of the senators and congressmen mentioned in the COA report,” she said.
“Kapunan said her client was a victim of “persecution.” She accused Levito Baligod, lawyer of one group of witnesses, of threatening Napoles’ employees with arrest to force them into testifying against Napoles.”
This latest tirade from Kapunan is in stark contrast to the meek and seemingly repentant Napoles who posed for mug shots after she voluntarily surrendered to President Aquino last week.
It is now evident that with her client secured and safe in a detention facility in Fort Sto. Domingo in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Kapunan is determined to employ all legal strategies and tactics to delay the prosecution of Napoles.
Dept. of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima earlier said that the filing of plunder charges against Napoles could face delay following the resignation of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nonnatus Rojas.
(Photo credit: Janet Lim Napoles is shown in this rappler.com photo with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who earlier denied knowing the pork barrel scam queen.)
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