Court erases doubts Napoles will stay at Camp Bagong Diwa

Janet Lim Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles’s detention at Camp Bagong Diwa has become more certain on Thursday.

This was after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ruled to keep her there, the last of the three divisions to issue a commitment order in her pending plunder cases.

The Fifth Division’s order came on the heels of the Monday resolutions issued by the First and Third Divisions.

READ: 2 Sandigan divisions order Napoles’ return to Camp Bagong Diwa

Its decision to echo the two other courts’ orders erases doubt on where Napoles should be detained amid her request to be transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation custodial center instead.

“Considering that the First and Third Divisions of this Court had already ordered the issuance of commitment orders… for the same reasons cited by the said Divisions, let a similar commitment order be issued in these cases,” read the minute resolution.

The Fifth Division, which handles the P183.8-million plunder case against former Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, was actually the first to hear the motions on Friday. But instead of resolving the matter right away, it first ordered the prosecution to reply to Napoles’s request by Monday.

It was overtaken by the First and Third Divisions’ orders on Monday morning and afternoon to deny Napoles’ motion over the lack of evidence that she would be safer in the NBI facility.

The said divisions handle the P224.5-million and P172.8-million cases of former Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile.

By Monday evening, the Sandiganbayan sheriff’s office served the first two commitment orders on the Correctional Institute for Women, which delivered Napoles to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Taguig City before sunrise on Tuesday. IDL