Napoles ‘can be granted immunity from prosecution’

By Jefferson Antiporda/Manila TimesUnless Janet Lim-Napoles is offered immunity from prosecution, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee should not expect anything earthshaking from her when she appears before the panel next month, Sen. Sergio Osmena said.Osmena, vice chairman of the panel, said he expects Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the P10bn pork barrel scam to invoke her right against self-incrimination which means the committee will not be able to force her to talk.“What I am saying is the whole nation is dying to hear Napoles, and they are dying to hear Napoles because they want to hear the truth . . . I don’t think that will happen, unless we offer her to become state witness which means immunity from prosecution,” the lawmaker pointed out.Osmena said the Senate has the power to grant immunity to Napoles just like what the Chamber did when it probed the Philippine National Police helicopter anomaly in 2011 where it backed the request of witness Archibald Po to be given immunity from a criminal suit.It was Po who linked Mike Arroyo to the sale of second hand helicopters passed on as brand new to the PNP.He invoked a provision in the Witness Protection and Security Benefits Act that allows a witness in a congressional investigation to be granted immunity from prosecution on recommendation by the legislative committee where his testimony is needed.The recommendation should get the approval of the Senate president or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.“Yes. It’s in the Witness Protection programme law. I was surprised when I read it, but yes, we gave ourselves that power to grant immunity,” Osmena explained.Osmena said that although Napoles is perceived to be the “engineer” of the scam, government officials who reportedly received huge kickbacks from her face the heavier penalties because they took an oath to serve the Filipino people and they should be above suspicion.“So if you’re saying, one guy stole P50mn, and then a governor stole P10mn, to me, I’ll go after the governor,” the senator explained.He added that immunity is always an option for Napoles, especially if the committee or the court find her as “not the most guilty.”But for Senator Francis Escudero, granting immunity to Napoles is not a call of the Senate alone and since cases have already been filed, it is the court that should decide on the matter.Escudero also said that he will not vote in favour of the proposal in case the committee would decide to vote on it because he does not believe that Napoles is the least guilty, based on the complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.He also expressed his belief that the evidence presented by the Justice department to the Ombudsman is enough to pin those named as respondents in the plunder and malversation cases.In fact, he said that they do not need the testimony of Napoles anymore.Government not alarmed over scam mastermind’s healthShe’s as normal as any person accused of illegal detention. Or perhaps plunder.The Palace is not buying the claim of the camp of Janet Lim-Napoles that the detained businesswoman is in danger of suffering from mental illness, at least not yet, Manila Times reported. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte expressed such sentiments a day after Napoles’ lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, claimed before the media that her client is already showing signs of mental problems because Napoles has started talking to herself while she is in solitary confinement. As such, Kapunan cited that her client needs a companion inside her detention cell. “I do not know what has been the basis of Atty. Kapunan in saying such things, but we can say that the prosecution is ready to contend that. The government is ready to determine if that was really her case,” Valte told state-run Radyo ng Bayan.Napoles is incarcerated in Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguna because of the illegal detention charges levelled against her by former employee and distant cousin Benhur Luy. The suspected pork barrel scam mastermind reportedly “senses” the presence of assassins outside her detention centre.