CBCP nixes Janet plea for custody

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday denied the request of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles that she be placed under the custody of the bishops.

In a statement, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that while the CBCP is grateful to Napoles for the trust she has shown to the conference, he regrets that they could not grant her request because this would be in violation of regulations governing the church and the state.

“Existing Church laws do not allow an episcopal conference to stand as guarantor before civil courts that the accused will not abscond and will be available at every trial date. Furthermore, we are not sure that under civil law we are qualified for such a role as Ms. Napoles would wish us to assume,” Villegas explained.

“Once we allow CBCP’s offices to take recognizance of Ms. Napoles, we must, to be fair, accept similar requests from all other accused. Not only would this strain CBCP’s resources, it would render impossible the discharge of its principal functions,” he added.

But Villegas assured Napoles that the bishops would remain vigilant and make sure that her rights and those of other accused are respected and safeguarded.

“In the same measure that we urge government prosecutors to be resolute and non-selective in the indictment of offenders and in holding them accountable for all their actions,” he added.

Napoles is currently detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguna.

SC defers ruling on Ong

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday deferred ruling on the administrative case against Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong over his alleged links with Napoles.

Justices of the high court decided to reset their deliberations on the recommendation in the report submitted by retired SC Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, who investigated the administrative charges against Ong for gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety.

Some of them were not ready to decide on the case and asked for more time before the votes will be cast, an insider bared.

The justices then opted to instead resolve the case next month.

The source, who is a member of the court, also revealed that they were confronted with a choice between ordering the dismissal from judicial service of Ong or just suspend him for a certain period.

In her report, Gutierrez recommended to the high tribunal the dismissal of Ong.

The retired SC justice has found after investigation that Ong committed “serious transgressions” when the fourth division of the anti-graft court that he chaired in 2010 had acquitted Napoles of criminal charges emanating from questionable purchase of 500 Kevlar helmets by the Philippine Marines.

She told the high court in her 34-page report that Ong violated the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary and was guilty of gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety.

Gutierrez recommended that apart from dismissal, the SC should also forfeit all his retirement benefits, excluding accrued leave credits and prevent him from re-employment in any government office, including government-owned or controlled corporations.

She cited the testimonies of whistle-blowers Benhur Luy and Marina Sula as basis of her report. She also stressed that Ong failed to back up his denial with evidence.

The STAR, however, reported earlier that two justices submitted their respective drafts rejecting such recommendation.

While the two magistrates agreed to uphold the finding of guilt of Ong in the charges, they believe that dismissal would be too harsh a penalty. They wanted Ong to instead be suspended for either six or three months. Their opinions were distributed to the other justices on July 1.

The source added that several justices support this position.

It was also learned that Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro have inhibited in the administrative case since Ong was their colleague when they were still in the Sandiganbayan.

The SC started the administrative probe against Ong last January as a result of the inquiry it initiated in October last year on sworn statements of Luy and Sula during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the controversy on Sept. 26 last year where the whistle-blowers identified Ong as one of the personalities who visited Napoles’ office at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas and joined her parties.

Luy and Sula also identified four lawyers as among the associates of Napoles: Mark Oliveros, Editha Talaboc, Raymond Tansip and Joshua Lapuz.

The lawyers allegedly notarized documents of Napoles’ JLN Corporation for its projects funded by the Malampaya Fund, according to the witnesses.

They even reportedly left a dry seal in Napoles’ office, as well as specimen signatures, notary books and stamp pads for use by JLN employees.

The four lawyers were also covered by the SC probe.

In August, an online news website published a photo of Ong partying with Napoles and Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

Ong has denied the charges. He claimed that the photo could not have been taken in 2010 or earlier. He said he and Estrada are friends since 1994.

“Be that as it may, it is undisputed, however, that I was standing to the right of Senator Estrada to have my picture taken with him. I have no control whether other guests (in this case, Mrs. Napoles, who was standing to his left) would also want to be photographed with us,” he said in the letter.

The justice also belied favoring Napoles, explaining that the Kevlar helmet case was dismissed by the members of the court division that acted as a collegial body. With Edu Punay