Senator Allan Peter Cayetano INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—“Lokohan (a mockery). Delaying tactics,” were how Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano branded Janet Lim-Napoles’ request to postpone her appearance in the Senate hearing on the P10 billion “pork barrel” scam on Thursday.
“She (Napoles) has all the resources. She knows the truth. She has a legal team who had been preparing and studying her defense. Time to answer questions and tell the whole truth,” Cayetano said in a statement.
“I call on Miss Napoles to stop employing delaying tactics and to cease from making a fool out of the Filipino people. I encourage her to tell all on November 7 and clear her conscience once and for all,” he said.
Napoles, in letter on Tuesday to Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senator Teofisto Guingona III , chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating the scam, requested to postpone the hearing, saying she has no lawyer who would accompany her when she testifies before the committee.
But Cayetano reminded Napoles that her right to counsel was “not absolute under the law and her right to a counsel of her choosing is limited.”
“I am certain that the government can provide her a competent lawyer to assist her and ensure that her rights are protected during the blue ribbon hearing on November 7,” he said.
“Also, if Miss. Napoles deliberately or capriciously fails to obtain the services of a lawyer, the Senate can still compel her testimony and the hearing will continue, as provided under the rules,” the senator added.
The committee assured Napoles that it has already made the necessary arrangements with the Public Attorney’s Office to provide her lawyers during the hearing.
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