Palace cautious in ensuring Napoles alive for trial—Lacierda

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda: Erring on the side of caution. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Call it overkill but Malacañang would rather err on the side of caution in protecting detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles from “those in government” who would like to see her dead.

“If you were Janet Napoles, you know a lot, and you have plenty of dealings with those in government who (would be better off) to see you dead than alive… the government would like to see her alive than dead. What would you do?” asked presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda  in a press conference. Lacierda said that his former law partner, Napoles’ counsel Lorna Kapunan, has bared the threats against her client.

“Shouldn’t government err on the side of caution, ‘di ba? We all know she is a central figure here (pork barrel scam), shouldn’t we be more careful? Some say this is overkill; overkill daw. (But) where do you draw the line between overkill and not overkill? We will be criticized if something happens to Janet Napoles,” said Lacierda.

“We should rather err on the side of caution because, for all intents and purposes, we are government. People are free to criticize the manner of protecting her, but on our side, we are accountable to the people. We will get criticized but we’d rather be criticized doing our job than being criticized for not doing our job.”

Lacierda said that the decision to transfer Napoles from the Makati city jail to Fort Santo Domingo was mainly the decision of the court.

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