Napoles bid for immunity junked

MANILA, Philippines—Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Thursday denied the request for immunity of Janet Lim Napoles saying she “appears to be among the most guilty.”

Morales said Napoles failed to meet the qualifications to become an immune witness

“Furthermore, Napoles appears to be among the most guilty of all respondents in these cases,” Morales said in a letter which was a response to Napoles’ request to utilize her as a state witness and grant her immunity.

On the other hand, Morales extended immunity from criminal prosecution to Benhur Luy, Marina Sula, Merlina Sunas, Mary Arlene Baltazar and Simonette Briones.

The others whose bid for immunity were junked are: Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Roman Cacal, who are employees of National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), as well as Dennis Cunanan, who is director general-on leave of the Technology Resource Center (TRC).

They are charged for using government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as the implementing agencies for dummy projects under the scheme of alleged mastermind Napoles

“There is no absolute necessity for their respective testimonies, and there are other direct evidence available, both testimonial and documentary, for the proper prosecution of the offenses committed,” the 16-page Joint Order dated June 2, 2014 reads.

On the other hand, Morales extended immunity from criminal prosecution to Benhur Luy, Marina Sula, Merlina Sunas, Mary Arlene Baltazar and Simonette Briones, who are among the whistleblowers in the scam.

The Ombudsman had granted immunity to socialite Ruby Tuason for her personal knowledge about the involvement of senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada in the scam. She admitted delivering bagful of kickbacks to Estrada.

The pork barrel scam is an elaborate scheme of siphoning lawmakers’ PDAF to questionable NGOs for non-existent projects. These funds were instead converted to kickbacks among the senators, their personnel, and Napoles.

Napoles is currently detained at Fort Santo Domingo in Laguna for the non-bailable illegal detention case.

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