Napoles wants NBI transfer; Ombudsman seeks her return to Bagong Diwa

Janet Lim Napoles at Sandiganbayan for her Plunder case in PDAF scam. Napoles wants to be transferred to NBI detention cell. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles has formally requested her transfer to the National Bureau of Investigation facility, even as Ombudsman prosecutors sought her return to Camp Bagong Diwa.

The Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on Thursday asked the Sandiganbayan to reiterate its earlier commitment order for Napoles to be detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Taguig City pending trial for the nonbailable offense of plunder.

Alternatively, the OSP in its four-page motion sought a new commitment order to provide guidance to the parties.

Prosecutors said a commitment order would “forestall any confusion” on Napoles’ detention following the Court of Appeals’ May 5 decision overturning her April 2015 conviction for the illegal detention of whistleblower Benhur Luy. The appeals court ordered her immediate release from the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.

On the other hand, Napoles filed a separate four-page motion on Friday seeking her transfer instead to the NBI custodial center in Manila citing threats to her security.

Her lawyers claimed that Napoles’ “personal belongings were ransacked since February 2017,” and that she was “bombarded with almost everyday death threats.”

This allegedly arose due to “significant circumstances”– specifically since the Office of the Solicitor-General in January manifested that the Court of Appeals should overturn her April 2015 conviction for illegal detention.

Napoles’ camp said the threats became “serious and strong” after the possibility emerged that she may be used as a government or state witness against the officials who may be implicated.

Prior to her April 2015 conviction by the Makati City Regional Trial Court, she was detained at the BJMP after her petition for bail was denied in the plunder cases of former senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jose Estrada. JE