Prosecutors manufactured documents, says Napoles lawyer

A lawyer of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim­Napoles on Thursday accused state prosecutors of presenting “manufactured documents” before the Sandiganbayan as evidence against his client.

Stephen David made the comment at the resumption of the plunder trial of Napoles and lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, the former chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, in the antigraft court’s Third Division.

Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje­Tang, who also chairs the Third Division, was forced to cut short the hearing after the defense panel noted the discrepancy in the markings of the documentary evidence which the prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman had submitted.

Tang told the government lawyers that they were given five days to correct any mistakes in the markings they made on various documents which they had presented during the pretrial conference.

No further delays

“We could have easily remedied this if you faithfully complied with the order of this court,” Tang said.

“The court will not allow further delays just because there’s a mix­up in the marking of evidence,” she said.

Associate Justice Samuel Martires also scolded the members of the prosecution panel for the error in the marking of documentary exhibits, saying they were not a good example to the law students who were invited as observers in the twice­a­week proceedings.

In an interview after the trial, David said the issue was not just about a mix­up in the marking of evidence.

He said the document they were questioning actually contained the names of about 30 beneficiaries whose signatures were forged by witness Marina Sula.

Sula, who continued her testimony against Napoles and Reyes, said she forged the signatures of the “ghost beneficiaries” upon the instruction of Napoles.