Napoles 'saddened' over denied request for immunity

MANILA, Philippines - The legal team of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles was saddened on Thursday with the denial by the Office of the Ombudsman of her application for immunity for "not meeting the qualifications to become an immune witness."

The Ombudsman also denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Napoles as well as Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, who are all facing plunder charges in relation to the pork barrel scam.

"The office is set to file with the Sandiganbayan the criminal informations for plunder and violations of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," according to a press statement from the Office of the Ombudsman issued Thursday.

"Malungkot syempre. Avail pa kami ng legal remedies," said Stephen David, the lead lawyer of Napoles' legal team in a text to the Star.

David added that they might be filing a motion before the Sandiganbayan although he did not anymore elaborate.

For his part, lawyer Bruce Rivera, who acts as Napoles's spokesman refused to comment on the Ombudsman's statement saying they have yet to receive a copy of the Ombudsman's order.

"We have not received a copy of the order yet," said Rivera in a text message to the Star.

Last April 1, the Ombudsman indicted Napoles and the three senators along with several others for their alleged participation in anomalous transactions that funneled billions of pesos from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of legislators into ghost projects.

They filed a motion for reconsideration, but in joint orders issued on Wednesday, the Ombudsman found that the appeal from the accused “carry verbatim repetitions of the issues and claims raised” by respondents in their respective counter-affidavits."

The orders added: “Evidently, the motions for reconsideration are rehashes of the arguments previously raised by them and already resolved by this office.”

According to the Ombudsman, no violation of the right to procedural process was committed considering that

(i) the manner of the service of the order to file counter-affidavit was compliant with Rule 13, Section 6 of the Rules of Court,

(ii) respondents were given an opportunity to be heard which they availed of by filing their motions for reconsideration, and

(iii) requesting respondents were provided with copies of the requested counter-affidavits. 

“Probable cause, for purposes of filing a criminal information, refers to such facts as are sufficient to engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof and should be held for trial [,and] needs only to rest on evidence showing that, more likely than not, a crime has been committed and that it was committed by the accused,” the orders stated.

In a statement released Thursday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said Napoles "appears to be the most guilty of all respondents" in the alleged scam.

Likewise, the Ombudsman also denied the petition for immunity of former National Agribusiness Corporation  officials Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Roman Cacal, and Technology Resource Center director Dennis Cunanan.

“There is no absolute necessity for their respective testimonies, and there are other direct evidence available, both testimonial and documentary, for the proper prosecution of the offenses committed,” a statement from the Office of the Ombubsman quoted Morales as saying in her 16-page order.

The Ombudsman, however, extended immunity from criminal prosecution to whistleblowers Benhur Luy, Marina Sula, Merlina Suñas, Mary Arlene Baltazar and Simonette Briones.