Sandiganbayan defers arraignment of Napoles’ kids

The Third Division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan on Friday deferred the arraignment of the two children of Janet Lim Napoles for graft charges in connection with their alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.

 

At the continuation of the hearing of Napoles' petition for bail, Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, the chairman of the Sandiganbayan Third Division, announced the deferment of the arraignment Jo Christine and James Christopher Napoles originally set on Monday, October 13.

 

Jo Christine and James Christopher are co-accused in the 15 counts of graft filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Third Division against Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile in connection with the alleged multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

 

Tang said the arraignment of Jo Christine and James Christopher was deferred until the urgent motion for reconsideration that they filed before the court was resolved.

 

In a motion filed before the Third Division on Wednesday but made available to the media on Thursday, Jo Christine and James Christopher asked the court to dismiss the charges against them for lack of merit.  

The siblings also asked the court to hold their arraignment in abeyance pending the resolution of the motion.

 

The Napoles’ children, in their motion, said the court erred in its September 29 ruling when it found probable cause to proceed with the case, as the decision was allegedly based solely on the testimonies made by whistleblowers Benhur Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula, who were described in the motion as “polluted sources” given their participation in the scam.

 

The motion said there was no evidence supporting the claims of the witnesses that Jo Christine and James Christopher were involved in forging of signatures and manufacturing of fraudulent documents for the transfer of the the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of Enrile to the fake non-government organizations (NGOs) associated with their mother.

 

The motion also said that there is no evidence proving that Enrile’s PDAF went to the accounts Napoles’ JLN Corporation and Jo Chris Trading.

 

The Third Division gave the prosecution five days to comment on Jo Christine and James Christopher’s motion, and another five days for the defense to counter the prosecution’s comment. Afterwards, the motion is deemed submitted for resolution.

 

Third Division clerk of court Atty. Dennis Pulma said the arraignment of the 11 other co-accused in the graft charges would push through on Monday at 1:30 p.m.

 

“The deferment only applies to the Napoles siblings since the others have no pending motions,” Pulma said.

 

Jo Christine and James Christopher likewise have a pending motion before the Supreme Court to stop the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the graft charges filed against them. —NB, GMA News