SC bet says no politics in reversing Napoles’ conviction in serious illegal detention case

A Court of Appeals (CA) magistrate gunning for a seat in the Supreme Court (SC) has denied insinuations the acquittal of businesswoman Janet Napoles in the serious illegal detention case was politically motivated.

Quizzed by members of screening body Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on the matter on Tuesday, CA Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan said he agreed with his colleagues in the CA 12th Division to grant Napoles' appeal for a reversal of the Makati City Regional Trial Court's decision in April 2015.

"[U]pon review it appears to me, in my honest opinion and evaluation, that no serious illegal detention was committed because the complainant Mr. [Benhur] Luy is free to go out, to contact his relatives outside while he was inside Bahay San Jose [in Makati]," said Gaerlan, one of the 13 individuals aspiring to succeed retiring SC Justice Jose Mendoza.

Asked by JBC member Toribio Ilao Jr. to comment on insinuations that the ruling may have been politically motivated, Gaerlan said: "I don't think so your Honor."

Napoles and her brother, Reynald "Jojo" Lim, were accused of detaining Luy from December 20, 2012 to March 22, 2013 to prevent him from disclosing the businesswoman’s racket of siphoning off PDAF allocations through ghost projects.

The businesswoman had denied detaining Luy, claiming her relative and estranged personal assistant went on a spiritual retreat in exchange for the non-filing of cases against him for allegedly stealing P300,000 and obtaining loans worth more than P5 million without her consent.

The CA backed Napoles' claims, noting there was enough evidence to establish that Luy had sought spiritual retreat at the Bahay ni San Jose in Magallanes Village, Makati City.

“Benhur attended mass every night with the priests residing in Bahay ni San Jose. He also maintained a journal covering the period of his stay in Bahay ni San Jose which contained biblical verses and references,” the May decision stated.

“Taken together, Benhur’s actuations are contrary to that of a person forced to stay with a religious order but are more consistent with the conclusion that he was seeking, and enjoying, too, religious retreat,” it added.

The appellate court said Luy never attempted to escape and mentioned anything to his family about being detained forcefully.

Luy was rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation from Napoles' unit on March 22, 2013 at the Pacific Plaza Condominium in Taguig City but the CA said the pork barrel scam whistleblower's action of violently resisting the rescue “negates his allegation that he was detained against his will."

Gaerlan said Napoles' acquittal had no direct impact on her cases at the Sandiganbayan in relation to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, which the Duterte administration seeks to revisit amid accusations of selective justice when it was first investigated by the Aquino government.

Following her acquittal, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Napoles may also be used as witness in the fresh probe into the corruption scandal.

Malacañang, however, stressed the government did not enter into a deal with Napoles' camp. —NB, GMA News