Palace: SolGen Calida is not lawyering for Napoles

Malacañang on Friday dismissed claims that Solicitor General Jose Calida was lawyering for accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles because of his move asking for her acquittal in the case of serious illegal detention filed against her by whistleblower Benhur Luy.

“He’s not lawyering for Napoles, I think,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said on Thursday in a news briefing at the Palace. “He’s just simply trying to correct want he thinks, what he sees, what he perceives is something that needs to be rectified.”

Also on Thursday, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed before the Court of Appeals a “manifestation in lieu of rejoinder,” recommending the acquittal of Napoles in the serious illegal detention case.

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

Calida responded by saying that the manifestation of the OSG was only his legal opinion and that it would still be up to the to court to decide on the case.

On Wednesday, presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo supported the move of the OSG, saying it was only upholding the rule of law.

Abella assured that the OSG’s manifestaion would not affect the pending plunder cases against Napoles over the pork barrel scam.

The Palace official said Calida believed that Napoles was “innocent not on the plunder cases but of the charges on serious detention.”

Abella also denied speculations that Duterte’s connection with the lawyers of Napoles had something to do with the moves of OSG.

“I think that’s what exactly they are – speculations,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier named Lanee David, former lawyer of Napoles, as Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) deputy commissioner.

READ: Ex-Napoles laywer appointed to BIR

David has handled cases of the latter’s family at the Sandiganbayan. /atm