Napoles seeks deferment of Monday arraignment

MANILA, Philippines - Businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, through her lawyers, on Wednesday asked the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 to defer her arraignment for a case of serious illegal detention slated for Monday afternoon.

Makati RTC Branch 150 clerk of court Diosfa Valencia said Napoles, through an 18-page motion to defer arraignment, asked that the arraignment scheduled for 1:30 p.m. be deferred as she has pending motions with the Court of Appeals and with the Makati RTC Branch 150.

In her motion, Napoles requested that her arraignment for the case of illegal detention filed against her by Benhur Luy be reset until the CA rules on her pending petition for certiorari and her motion for bill of particulars pending with the Makati RTC Branch 150.

According to Valencia, the court on Friday at 1:30 p.m. will hear Napoles' motion along with the motion of her brother and co-accused in the case, Reynald Lim, who had also asked the Makati court to temporarily suspend the hearing of his serious illegal detention case.

Lim's lawyer, Raul Vasquez, earlier said the hearing should be first suspended pending the resolution of their motion for reconsideration filed at the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA),  which questions the court's decision to issue the arrest warrants against Napoles and Lim.

"The proceedings must also be suspended in the light of accused's petition for certiorari dated August 16 filed with the Court of Appeals. The said petition questioned this Honorable Court's August 14 order and that the Order of Arrest of even date finding probable cause for the arrest of the accused for being issued with grave abuse of discretion," the motion said. - Mike Frialde