Medialdea denies advising Napoles camp on jail transfer

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Tuesday denied giving advice to the camp of detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles to file a motion in court seeking for her release from the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

“Why would I give a legal advice to a lawyer for his client. If I were his client, I will fire him,” Medialdea said.

The Palace official’s denial came a day after Napoles' lawyer Stephen David said he had a meeting in Malacañang with Medialdea and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in connection with Napoles’ bid for transfer of custody.

David said he sought the meeting with the two Cabinet officials out of confusion on their next legal action after Napoles, who is currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, was provisionally admitted to the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program on February 27.

"We are in a situation where we don't know what to do. Is she being immediately taken out of the facility, or shall we file a motion? That's why we have to consult people in authority as to what to do," he said.

David said he wanted to transfer Napoles  "to a secure facility and later on just inform the court that we did this, and they (Aguirre and Medialdea) didn't like that."

Napoles is facing a string of plunder and graft cases before the Sandiganbayan over allegations she gave kickbacks to lawmakers for channeling their Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations to her bogus non-government organizations.  — RSJ, GMA News