Napoles attends her bail hearing from plunder over the pork barrel scam in her orange prisoners gown at the Mandaluyong correctional, where she serves life sentence. She was convicted to life in prison for illegally detaining Benhur Luy. She faces plunder, a non bailable offense, for allegedly masterminding the pork barrel scam. Photo from the Correctional Institution for Women.
Accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles will be mixed up with murder and homicide convicts at the Mandaluyong correctional where she is serving her life sentence for the serious illegal detention of Benhur Luy.
An official in the Correctional Institution for Women who refused to be identified said Napoles would be quarantined for 60 days with the other new convicts.
The convict during the quarantine period will undergo physical and psychological tests, the official said.
He added that after the quarantine period, Napoles would be jailed under maximum security with other convicts for crimes against persons, which include murder and homicide.
The controversial figure behind the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam attended her bail hearing from plunder on Friday inside the “Bulwagan Consolacion,” a makeshift courtroom within the correctional complex.
She wore her orange prisoner gown prescribed to inmates under maximum security.
Napoles smiled to reporters upon entering the courtroom. “Namiss ko kayo,” she told reporters.
Before the hearing, Napoles related to reporters her experience so far under maximum security quarantine. She said she did cleaning jobs inside the prison as part of inmates’ duties. “Sosyal dito, walis tambo,” Napoles said.
She also said she shared a dormitory room with other convicts. Napoles said she’s “getting to know” her fellow inmates.
The jail official said Napoles’ comfort would be temporary, because after the quarantine period she would be mixed up with more stern convicts. He refused to describe the jail.
Napoles said she brought a rosary with her to the jail.
Pressed by reporters for more details, Napoles retorted: “Mag-paconvict ka kaya nang malaman mo (Get yourself convicted so you’ll know).”
She badgered reporters why they kept on covering her bail hearings.
“Ang bantayan niyo Palawan, baka mawala na sa atin (Keep watch on Palawan, we might lose it),” Napoles said.
In clarifying, she added: “Sa kababantay niyo sa akin, baka ang Pilipinas makuha na ng mga kamag-anak ko (In covering me, the Philippines might be taken over by my relatives).”
Napoles has Chinese blood from her mother Magdalena Lim.
The court conducted tFriday’s hearing at the correctional pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the request to allow Napoles to leave jail for her bail hearings at the Sandiganbayan.
Napoles, the accused architect of the scheme of pillaging lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to ghost projects for kickbacks, has applied for bail before the antigraft court for plunder, a non-bailable offense.
The pork barrel scam case has resulted in the detention of Napoles, Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile, and former representatives Edgar Valdez and Rizalina Seachon Lanete and their aides for allegedly conniving with each other to earn kickbacks.
While she faces plunder trial, Napoles was convicted to serve life sentence on the serious illegal detention case filed by Luy, her former entrusted finance officer who blew the lid off the alleged scam.
In August 2013, Luy accused Napoles, a cousin, and her brother of illegally detaining him at Bahay ni San Jose and at the South Garden Pacific Towers in Taguig City, a Catholic retreat house in Magallanes Village, Makati City, after they reportedly found out that Luy was having separate business transactions allegedly involving lawmakers’ PDAF. AU