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De Lima: Napoles a 'polluted source'

March 21, 2018 | 3:55pm

Sen. Leila De Lima, former Justice chief, slammed the DOJ's move to make Janet Napoles a state witness. AP/Bullit Marquez

MANILA, Philippines — Janet Lim-Napoles, believed to be the brains behind the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, is a polluted source who lacks credibility, Sen. Leila De Lima said on Wednesday.

De Lima, former Justice secretary, slammed the Department of Justice's move to turn Napoles into a state witness as it reopens the probe into the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

"Now Aguirre wants the Sandiganbayan to bow to Malacañang's wish and throw away all the evidence against Napoles and turn her over to the DOJ. They're helping her attain freedom so they can use her for their own malevolent agenda," De Lima added.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday said that he is inclined to make Napoles a state witness, as he believes the businesswoman's testimony could help greatly in uncovering the people behind what is also called the "Pork Barrel" scam.

De Lima also stressed that the government has already put behind bars Sens. Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Jinggoy Estrada, believed to be three of Napoles' biggest clients.

READ: Janet Lim Napoles now enjoying partial witness protection

Enrile was ordered released by the Sandiganbayan due to his age. The Supreme Court upheld Enrile's release.

Revilla and Estrada are both facing charges at the anti-graft court. Estrada is already out on bail.

She added: "We even charged [former President Benigno Aquino III]'s allies, like Ruffy Biazon and Joel Villanueva."

"And they call it selective justice, just because those who they wanted to be destroyed were not included," De Lima added.

De Lima disputes Aguirre's 'nothing happened' remark

De Lima also hit back on Aguirre's comment that "nothing happened" with the PDAF investigation during her tenure as Justice chief.

READ: Aguirre defends Napoles' transfer to Witness Protection Program

De Lima in 2014 received a "Napolist" from the businesswoman. More than a hundred legislators were named in the list that was made public during the trial of Revilla at the Sandiganbayan over his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

The senator said: "We did not charge others in the so-called Napoles list because there was then no evidence against them —even by [Commission on Audit]'s own records on how they spent their PDAF, much less based on the documents and testimonies of the whistleblowers."

"There is only one standard now under the Duterte administration: The lies of Napoles are our evidence," she added.

The department said that it is currently evaluating the contents of Napoles' affidavit to determine if she should be given full protection by the state.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales earlier said that the Office of the Ombudsman has the final say on Napoles' eligibility as state witness, as she is facing a string of graft cases at the Sandiganbayan.