Panelo: Duterte gov’t not being soft on Napoles

Is the Duterte administration going soft on Napoles? President Rodrigo Duterte’s chief legal counsel doesn’t think so.

Lawyer Salvador Panelo, in a phone patch interview with reporters on Wednesday, said the Duterte administration would always uphold the rule of law, following the moves of Solicitor General Jose Calida, recommending the acquittal of Napoles on the serious illegal detention filed by her second cousin, whistleblower Benhur Luy.

READ: SolGen Calida moves to acquit Napoles in illegal detention of Luy

“The administration of Duterte will always follow what the rules, the laws, and the Constitution say regardless of who are the persons involved whether that person is a controversial figure or a non-controversial figure,” Panelo told reporters when asked if the administration was being soft on Napoles.

Panelo supported the move of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), seeking the acquittal of Napoles on the crime of serious illegal detention.

“The position of the chief presidential legal counsel will coincide with what the OSG has stated because they are the agency that looked over the records of the case,” he said.

“Since the OSG is the office that studied the case and it is the office that recommended the acquittal of the accused, we have to abide by its position, unless independent entities can show us that the decision is contrary to the evidence and the records of the case,” he added.

Asked if Duterte ordered any instructions to OSG regarding Napoles’ case, Panelo said there was none.

“The President does not give any instruction to any department as to what it will do. He has repeatedly said. Pinapabayaan niya ang bawat departamento ng kanilang–basta naaayon sa batas (He gives free rein to each department as long as it is according to the law),” he said.

He said lawyers were “bound by law not only to prosecute accused but also to give justice to all.”

In April 2015, the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 sentenced Napoles to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment after she was found guilty of serious illegal detention against Luy. CDG