Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday asked prison officials to look after Janet Lim-Napoles’ safety after she had a quarrel with other inmates and a prison officer at the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City last week.
De Lima told reporters Napoles had been transferred to another ward in the CIW maximum security compound. Bureau of Corrections Director Ramon Cruz checked on Napoles last Friday, she said.
“Given her situation—she is the central figure in the Priority Development Assistance Fund cases—there is a need to ensure the security of Mrs. Napoles,” De Lima said.
“We’re still ascertaining the cause of the altercations. My standing instruction to Director Cruz is to closely monitor the situation at the CIW, that there should not be a misinterpretation or misimpression that she is being given special treatment.”
De Lima said Cruz’s initial assessment was that no special treatment was being given to Napoles.
Napoles, alleged mastermind of the P10-billion PDAF scam, was incarcerated at the CIW after she was convicted of serious illegal detention by a Makati City court in the abduction of her cousin, scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.
She was transferred to the CIW in April.
“She had an altercation with certain inmates and a CIW employee so she was temporarily placed in the mothers’ ward. She will be transferred to a new ward, called Dormitory 8, which has a disciplinary cell,” De Lima said.
De Lima said she did not know if Napoles had actually been sent to the “bartolina,” or solitary confinement.
“The details of the altercation, what was the cause and who started it are still under investigation,” she said.