Hearing on Napoles’ illegal detention case set on Jan. 17

MANILA, Philippines - Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 has scheduled the presentation of exhibits in the serious illegal detention case  against  Janet Lim-Napoles on Jan. 17 after the pre-trial conference was completed yesterday.

The first hearing was set at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 18.

Succeeding hearings will be held on March 4, 18 and 25 at 9:30 a.m.

Prosecutors asked Alameda for 30 days from yesterday to answer the motion for reconsideration that Napoles’ lawyer Alfredo Villamor filed last Dec. 5.

Villamor asked the court to reconsider and set aside its Nov. 21 order denying Napoles’ urgent motion for bail.

The prosecution’s evidence against Napoles is not strong, he claimed.

Villamor said the prosecution has not proven the alleged crime and conspiracy.

“Contrary to the claim of serious illegal detention, Benhur (Luy) was in constant communication with his family because he was free to call and update them at any time,” read the motion.

“Finally, prosecution witnesses have been proven to be unreliable, their testimonies have been muddled by their own inconsistencies and afterthoughts.”

Villamor said the evidence so far presented inevitably shows that Benhur was not detained.

“Thus, he did not want or need to be rescued at any time,” read the motion. 

Prosecutor Christopher Garvida told the court they will again present the previous eight witnesses who had testified during Napoles’ bail petition hearing.

A representative of  Metrobank Ortigas branch will also  testify how funds were transferred from Benhur’s account to Napoles’ account, he added.

They will also present four more witnesses whose identities will be revealed to the court five days before their testimonies, Garvida said.

Villamor  said the defense will present 18 witnesses, mostly priests from the retreat house in Magallanes Village in Makati where Benhur was supposedly detained.

They are Patricio Asoy, William Lim, Monsignor  Josefino Ramirez, Fr. Paul Yang, Fr. Peter Guo, Fr. Joseph Gao, Fr. John Ma, Fr. Paul Dong, Abelardo Gernale, Jethron Bande, Madylon Habana, Ana Marie Lim, Fernando Masayon, Feliciano Alcantara, Expedito Rosales, Peter John Castillo, Napoles herself and her brother and co-accused Reynald Lim.

In denying Napoles’ motion for bail, Alameda ruled that the prosecution evidence is strong enough to conclude that Napoles committed the offense of serious illegal detention.

“In sum, the court rules that the evidence adduced by the prosecution is strong, which leads this court to conclude that the offense of serious illegal detention, as charged, has been committed by Janet Lim Napoles,” read the decision.