The senator who is imprisoned on drug charges, sent a dare to Napoles who was said to be possible in becoming a state witness if the investigation for pork barrel scams is re-opened.
Department of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre III is offering a very tempting offer to Napoles says De Lima. “Mr. Aguirre is making a tempting offer for Napoles that is too hard to resist, that is to tell everything she knows against the expanded list of suspects in the pork barrel fund scam in exchange of her security, survival or political concessions.”
She added, "If this government really sees her as a credible state witness because it thinks she is a ‘minimal player’ in the multi-billion pork barrel fund scandal, I challenge Napoles to return the wealth she has acquired from all her illegal transactions."
The detained senator also mentioned news reports asserting the pork barrel scam queen and her familiy is living a luxurious life. But according to the previous statement of Napoles, she inherited a profitable coal mining business from her parents where her family accumulated their wealth. She also said that they were living in houses and condos in a minimum of seven fancy places and owns properties worth of P495.1 million in the United States.
“This government is using Napoles to blackmail and bully its critics and opponents. It will stop at nothing unless it can silence its dissenters and have their merry way of plunging our country into disaster,” she said, indicating that President Rodrigo Duterte is only using Napoles to get revenge on his critics and opponents.
The Senator also stated Napoles cannon become state witness as she is appearing to be one who is most guilty of the scam.
"When we asked her to identify legislators, she asked us instead who among the senators and congressmen we wanted included in her PDAF list of clients. That is when I knew that Napoles cannot be relied upon and is only too willing to fabricate her own testimony to save her skin at the expense of innocent senators and congressmen," Leila De Lima said.
Senator De Lima was the current DOJ Secretary when the charges were filed against Napoles and some lawmakers. Napoles was reported to have provided a long list of government officials that were involve in the PDAF scam but due to some unknown reasons, only thirty eight were prosecuted including herself.
Moreover, the Court of Appeals have already acquitted Janet Lim Napoles last May for the crime illegal serious detention of her cousin Benhur Luy. But she is still facing a few other charges namely plunder, graft, malversation and direct bribery.
Not too long ago, the Ombudsman Conchita Carpio stated that she will blog any attempt to make Napoles a state witness for she is the "principal alleged malefactors" of the crime.
Sources: GMA
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