Napoles has ‘twisted sense of entitlement’ on WPP admission, prosecution says

The Office of the Ombudsman's prosecutors said alleged pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles has a "misplaced and twisted sense of entitlement" for asking the Sandiganbayan to allow her to be placed under the custody of the Department of Justice (DOJ) following her provisional admission to the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

In an eight-page opposition received by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to Napoles' request for transfer to the WPP, the prosecution said it is "outright propesterous" for a person in detention to be transferred to a secure housing facility.

If the court allows Napoles to be placed under the DOJ's custody, the government will place Napoles in a safe house and assign body guards to assure her safety.

"Too many individuals are possessed by a misplaced and twisted sense of entitlement, prompting them to make requests and demands for treatment uniquely suited for their self-indulgent needs and perceived stature. Accused Janet Lim Napoles is of such ilk," the prosecution said.

"Perched on her self-perceived pedestal, and believing that she is head and shoulder above the rest of the nameless and faceless detention prisoners, she now implores the honorable court to treat her differently, asking that custody over her be transferred to the WPP of the DOJ baking her request on her having been provisionally accepted to the program," it added.

The DOJ had confirmed that Napoles had been provisionally accepted to the WPP as of February 27. Aguirre had said that he believes Napoles is not the most guilty in the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam, thus her acceptance to the WPP.

An accused must not be the most guilty in case to be accepted to the WPP.

The prosecution, however, said that being provisionally accepted to the WPP does not entitle Napoles to become a regular state witness until she has completed the requirements set for her admission.

The prosecution also reiterated that it has "never entertained and does not entertain the idea of utilizing [Napoles] as its witness" on the multibillion-peso scheme.

The prosecution cited Section 1, Article IX of the Implementing Rules and Regulation of the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act which states that the WPP "shall not take into its protective custody a witness who is under detention for any lawful cause."

"To remove her from the confines of her detention, and to transfer the custody over her to the WPP would virtually accord her the liberties of a free man. Such an aberrant situation not only elevates accused's status to that of a special class, it also would be a mockery of the purposes of the correction system," the opposition read.

Napoles is facing five plunder and numerous graft charges in connection with the pork barrel fund scam. The Sandiganbayan had allowed her to post bail as co-accused of former Masbate governor Rizalina Seachon-Lanete and former APEC party-list representative Edgar Valdez.

She remains in detention as co-accused in the cases of former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.

Napoles is also facing separate charges of graft and malversation of public funds on the P900-million Malampaya fund scam. 

The prosecution said the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is the sole agency responsible in handling the detention of Napoles and not the DOJ.

It also said that the claim of Napoles that she is being harassed at Camp Bagong Diwa is insufficient to allow her transfer to the WPP, when in fact it was a Greyhound Team that supposedly raided and ransacked her detention cell. 

"It is suffice to state that no one can really fully guarantee the safety of another, whether inside or outside a jail, and whether one is a prisoner or a free man. But such fear of possible physical harm, unfounded at that, is not a valid and compelling reason to transfer accused Napoles to the custody of the WPP," it said. —ALG, GMA News