Lawyer welcomes prosecutors' amendment on plunder charge

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer of businesswoman Janet Napoles on Wednesday welcomed the amendment being sought by the special panel of prosecutors that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. are the ones who ultimately benefited from the pork barrel scam.

Lawyer Faye Singson said that Napoles' smaller role in the pork barrel scam has been the defense panel's argument since the plunder case was lodged before the Sandiganbayan.

"To our mind, that is the very argument that we have been raising right from the start that there can't be a crime of plunder if the person who ultimately benefited from the PDAF (priority development fund)proceeds is a private individual," Singson said.

She, however, refused to comment whether the move of the special prosecutors has weakened the government's case against Napoles.

"In fairness naman sa Office of the Ombudsman, hindi naman siguro sa pagkakamali kasi to amend an information before arraignment is a matter of right on their part," she added.

On Wednesday, state prosecutors asked the Sandiganbayan to delete the phrase "enabling Napoles to misapproriate the PDAF proceed for her personal gain" in the charge sheets.