Aguirre: Napoles as witness won't affect her 'pork' cases

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Monday doused speculations that turning detained businesswoman Janet Napoles into a state witness in exchange for new leads in the pork barrel scam will set the stage for her eventual freedom.

In an interview on News To Go, Aguirre clarified that the Department of Justice's fresh investigation into the corruption scheme was not aimed at setting Napoles free from prison.

He said Napoles' plunder and graft cases before the Sandiganbayan would not be affected in any way by the probe, findings of which would be forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for its consideration.

"Yan po ang gusto kong linawin kasi akala ng marami na kung si Janet Napoles ay tanggapin ng Department of Justice sa Witness Protection Program bilang state witness ay siya ay palalayain," Aguirre said.

"Hindi po maaapektuhan ang kanyang mga nakapending na kaso. Wala pong relasyon. Hindi po maaapektuhan kahit ano kung siya ay papayagan natin maging witness dito sa reinvestigation ng PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) scam. Kaya yung motibo na ganun ay hindi po natin nako-consider dahil hindi po yan relevant sa pinag-uusapan natin," he added.

Aguirre was asked on whether Napoles only wanted to escape liability for seeking to become state witness.

The Cabinet official met with Napoles' camp last Thursday with the businesswoman expressing willingness to name more officials involved in the scam, which involves siphoning off the PDAF allocations of several lawmakers through ghost projects carried out by her fake non-government organizations.

Three former senators — Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile — were detained in connection with the alleged scam. Of them, only the 93-year-old Enrile was allowed to post bail due to humanitarian considerations.

A day after the meeting, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay said on social media that the DOJ's reinvestigation of the pork barrel scam would become "bogus" if it uses Napoles as state witness.

"Any pork barrel investigation that results in the release of Napoles is as bogus as drug charges that result in the release of drug lords," Hilbay said in a tweet.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, meanwhile, said Napoles "will say anything just to save her skin."

Solicitor General Jose Calida took exception to Pangilinan's statement, saying only the prosecution and the court are involved in the process of turning an accused into a state witness.  —KBK, GMA News