Napoles: Prosecution failed to prove guilt in plunder case

Convicted plunderer Janet Lim Napoles hopes to have her fate overturned as a co-accused of former Senator Jinggoy Estrada, this time seeking the outright dismissal of her plunder case at the Sandiganbayan due to insufficient evidence that she allegedly misused congressional allotments.

Napoles filed her 34-page demurrer to evidence before the anti-graft court's Fifth Division on March 28, a day before the camp of Estrada submitted his own demurrer.

Napoles said the prosecution erred when it named her as the mastermind in the misuse of Estrada's P183-million Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel, to illegally enrich themselves.

She noted the main plunderer should be between Estrada and his former chief of staff, Pauline Labayen, since they were the public officials then.

"The case is shrouded with serious doubts because the information suggests that accused Napoles, a private individual, is the main plunderer by alleging that the scheme enabled her 'to misappropriate the PDAF proceeds for her personal gain," Napoles said.

"Thus, the pieces of evidence adduced by the prosecution are insufficient to prove plunder beyond reasonable doubt as they failed to point to any public officer as the main plunderer," she added.

Napoles said the Supreme Court had upheld that a plunder charge should state a public official as the main culprit, as ruled in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vs. People of the Philippines and the Sandiganbayan.

Napoles already faces a sentence of reclusion perpetua at the Correctional Institute for Women after she was found guilty for the misappropriation of the PDAF of Estrada's former colleague, former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., last year.

Below P50-million threshold

In the Estrada case, Napoles said the prosecution failed to reach the required threshold value of at least P50 million to support a plunder charge.

The lack of a main plunderer means Napoles and her three other co-accused would only account for an alleged aggregate ill-gotten wealth of around P45.95 million.

"There having been no main plunderer alleged in the information or proven in the course of the trial, the third element of the crime of plunder, that the aggregate amount or total value of the ill-gotten wealth amassed, accumulated, or acquired is at least P50,000,000.00 has not been met," Napoles said.

Napoles further said the link establishing that Estrada received his PDAF kickbacks through her bogus non-government organizations remains missing.

She also called whistle-blower Benhur Luy as a "tainted witness" for failing to present original documents during his testimony.

"It is respectfully submitted that the evidence adduced by the prosecution miserably failed to destroy or rebut the constitutional presumption of innocence of the accused and also failed to prove the accused's guilt beyond reasonable doubt," Napoles said. — RSJ, GMA News