Detained Sen. Leila de Lima (left) and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles (right) (File photos from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Janet Lim Napoles is a parrot who would be willing to “sing anything she is asked to.”
Sen. Leila de Lima made this remark on Saturday after the Department of Justice (DOJ) placed Napoles under the coverage of the Witness Protection Program.
According to De Lima, Napoles would say anything before the DOJ in order to get out of trouble.
“Napoles is no different from a karaoke club regular. She will sing anything she is asked to,” De Lima said in a statement.
The senator, who was DOJ secretary in the Aquino administration, said that Napoles was not “seriously considered” as a state witness because she was the alleged mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
She said that Napoles asked them before who would they like to include in the list to those involved in the controversy.
“Her first question to us then was ‘sino ba ang gusto ninyong isama’?” De Lima said.
“It became clear to us then that just like any thief Napoles will say anything to get herself off the hook,” the senator, who has been detained for more than a year already for drug related charges, added.
Napoles, said De Lima, was the “ideal witness” of the government as she would distract the critics and other protesters.
“She is indeed the ideal witness for a crooked administration, to use against its critics and vocal dissenters,” De Lima said.
“Napoles will parrot anything, just like the Bilibid drug inmates used by [Presdient Rodrigo] Duterte and [Justice Secretary Vitaliano] Aguirre against me,” she added. /atm