SC junks Napoles bid to quash graft, malversation raps

Alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the attempt of pork barrel scam principal accused Janet Lim-Napoles to nullify the Office of the Ombudsman resolution charging her with two counts of graft and two counts of malversation before the Sandiganbayan Third Division.

Napoles, in her petition for certiorari filed before the high court, accused Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales of committing grave abuse of discretion in approving the filing of another set of criminal cases against her.

READ: SC dismisses Napoles petitions vs Ombudsman

The high court said Napoles failed to show any grave abuse of discretion committed by the Ombudsman.

“The Court deferred to the Ombudsman’s findings of probable cause in the absence of any grave abuse of discretion shown by petitioner [Napoles],” the high court’s Information Chief Atty. Theodore Te said at a press conference.

Napoles is one of the co-accused of Davao Del Sur 1st District Representative Marc Douglas Cagas IV.

The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Cagas from 2007 to 2009 worth P11 million covered by two special allotment release orders (SARO) was channeled to the National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) and Technology Resource Center (TRC) as implementing agencies with the Napoles-controlled nongovernment organizations. RAM/rga