Janet Lim-Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan third division on Friday denied the request of accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to skip her bail hearings for plunder.
In a resolution released on Friday, the anti-graft court said Napoles’ request to not attend her hearings due to “mental and physical fatigue” lacks merit.
The court said Napoles’ presence in the hearings is a “continuing undertaking of the accused throughout the proceedings of the case until its final termination.”
Napoles through her counsels had said that the trips to the anti-graft court from Camp Bagong Diwa, where Napoles is detained, are causing her mental and physical fatigue.
Napoles had also said she is still recovering from her recent uterus operation. She also claimed to be suffering from anxiety as she is detained for plunder over the scam.
“(Napoles) has been attending the bail hearings in the case for more than a month already and she has been experiencing physical and mental fatigue in going to Sandiganbayan from her detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa and back,” the motion read.
Napoles had requested that she be only required to attend for arraignment and for identification.
Napoles faces plunder and graft charges for allegedly masterminding the multibillion scam of purportedly pillaging public funds to ghost projects for kickbacks.
She is detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology female dormitory in Camp Bagong Diwa with her co-accused Atty. Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, the resigned chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
Senators Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. are also under police custody as they face plunder and graft over the scam.
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