MANILA, Philippines — The camp of detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles said the threats against her are getting worse as the Department of Justice considers turning her into a state witness in the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.
In a two-page letter dated May 5, 2017, Napoles' lawyer Stephen David asked Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to extend protection and security to his client, saying that Napoles is now being “bombarded” with death threats “almost everyday”.
“We believe that your office, through the NBI, can give Mrs. Napoles her much needed protection and be confined under a more secured premises and security under the NBI,” David said in his letter.
Napoles has been detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City since April 2015 after she was found guilty by the Makati Regional Trial Court of illegally detaining her second cousin and former employee Benhur Luy.
On May 5, the Court of Appeals reversed the Makati RTC's ruling saying that the evidence presented by the prosecutors were "grossly insufficient to sustain a conviction" and falls below the required proof of crime beyond reasonable doubt.
Napoles, however, remains detained at the CIW, as the Sandiganbayan, which now has sole jurisdiction over her, has yet to issue a new commitment order on her transfer of detention.
Napoles is facing at least five plunder cases and multiple graft cases before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel scam.
David said there were instances in February of this year when Napoles' personal belongings were ransacked by still unidentified individuals.
“There were instances which her belongings were scattered inside her cell as if looking for something and almost every night she started feeling uneasy for she felt someone is intently watching her,” David said.
David said Napoles is also receiving written threats from unknown individuals.
David said that, according to Napoles, the threats against her became serious when the news circulated that the new administration intends to reopen the investigation on the pork scam and to use her as a state witness.
David said that though he has no direct proof, he believes that the threats come from “former and current high-ranking public officials who have the capability and capacity to consummate the threats”.
“These are the public officials who want Mrs. Napoles to keep silent and not expose her knowledge on the issues she was in,” David said.