Napoles was totally distant during Senate hearing, says Santiago
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Thursday that alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles was not just evasive but was “totally distant.” Video by Matikas Santos/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles was not just evasive but was “totally distant.”
“She’s beyond evasive, she’s totally distant from the entire proceedings,” Santiago said in a press conference after she grilled Napoles in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing Thursday.
“She does not want to be involved in anything … for her this is a bad dream that won’t go away,” she said.
Napoles responded to questions from senators mostly by invoking her right against self-incrimination and by saying that she does not know anything about the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said to Napoles during the hearing that “It seems like you have selective memory.”
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Senator Miriam Defensor- Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Senators Francis Escudero, Juan Victor “JV Ejercito” Estrada and Grace Poe-Llamanzares also noted Napoles’ evasiveness in answering queries from the Committee.
Article continues after this advertisement“But her answers are to be expected. She has been coached, maybe by her lawyers … that the less she says, the less trouble she gets into,” Santiago said.
“She doesn’t realize that if she told the whole truth now, her life would be forever free,” she said.
During the hearing, Santiago urged Napoles to speak up now given there are “murderous” senators who want to prevent her from telling the truth.
She said that Napoles could also avail of the perpetuating testimony procedure so that even if an attempt on her life succeeds, she will still have been able to tell her story.
Santiago further accused Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile as the mastermind behind the pork barrel scam saying Napoles could not have done such a large scheme on her own citing that she did not finish college and was from a poor family.
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