SC upholds decision granting Napoles bail in one PDAF case
MANILA, Philippines — Pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and former Masbate Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete have been allowed to post bail after the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a case related to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In a 22-page resolution issued in October 2023, the high court junked the petition filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of the Office of the Ombudsman assailing the Sandiganbayan’s resolution granting Napoles and Lanete’s application for bail.
“Verily, the Court concludes that the OSP failed to prove that there exists evident guilt or a great presumption of guilt that would warrant the denial of Napoles and Lanete's right to bail,” the decision read.
However, despite the SC’s ruling allowing her to post bail, Napoles remains in detention as she is serving jail time for her other PDAF cases where she was found guilty.
The SC said that the OSP did not sufficiently demonstrate evident guilt or a strong presumption of guilt to justify denying Napoles and Lanete's right to bail.
Citing the Constitution and the Rules of Court, the SC emphasized that an accused has a guarantee for bail except if charged with a capital offense and the guilt is strong.
Section 13. All persons, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when evidence of guilt is strong, shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be released on recognizance as may be provided by law. The right to bail shall not be impaired even when the privilege of the· writ of habeas corpus is suspended. Excessive bail shall not be required.
Such provision is echoed in Section 7, Rule 114 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides:
Section 7. Capital offense of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, not bailable. - No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution.
In this instance, the Sandiganbayan determined that the OSP did not establish evident guilt or a significant presumption of guilt regarding Napoles and Lanete.
The anti-graft court granted the pair’s application for bail the lack of any direct evidence to show that Lanete had personal dealings with Napoles, and the failure to show that the amassed ill-gotten wealth reached the threshold amount of P50 million.
Initially, Napoles was accused of embezzling P64 million. However, the anti-graft court dismissed several daily disbursement records, deeming them irrelevant or inadequately identified and presented as evidence.
According to Republic Act No. 7080, there should be an amount of at least P50 million worth of ill-gotten wealth which shall be proven amassed, accumulated or acquired by an individual for a crime to be considered plunder.
Napoles was convicted of plunder for her involvement in the misappropriation of Sen. Bong Revilla’s PDAF in 2018.
In January 2024, Napoles and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada were acquitted of plunder for the misuse of PDAF worth P10 billion. However, she was found guilty of five and two counts of corruption of public officials by direct and indirect bribery, respectively and is facing imprisonment of 62 years.
The PDAF scam is a multi-million peso scandal related to the discretionary funds which involved several lawmakers, which included Estrada, Revilla and former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile.
- Latest
- Trending
