High court allows Napoles to attend Sandiganbayan hearings

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has allowed pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to attend her hearings at the Sandiganbayan antigraft court.

In two notices signed by Supreme Court clerk of court Edgar Aricheta, the high court said it had granted Napoles exemption from the rule that prohibits convicted national prisoners from leaving detention

Napoles was earlier found guilty of plunder for misusing some P224.5 million of former Sen. Bong Revilla’s priority development assistance fund by diverting it to bogus nongovernmental organizations in exchange for kickbacks.

After her conviction, she was remanded to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, where she was classified as a national prisoner. —PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU