BUSINESSWOMAN Janet Lim Napoles will file charges against the three Sandiganbayan associate justices who convicted her of graft over the misuse of pork barrel funds allotted to former Cagayan de Oro congressman Constantino Jaraula.
Her legal counsel Rony Garay said charges of “gross ignorance of the law, manifest partiality and extreme bias” will be filed against Justices Geraldine Faith Econg, Reynaldo dela Cruz and Edgardo Caldona
He said the conviction of Napoles, Jaraula and three others “had been clearly hurried and handed down haphazardly” without considering their pending motions and looking at the evidence.
Garay cited the erroneous inclusion of Napoles in the direct bribery conviction of Jaraula, which the Sandiganbayan later said was a typographical error.
In its decision released on Friday, February 5, 2021, the Sandiganbayan found Napoles, Jaraula, Technology Resource Center (TRC) group manager Ma. Rosalinda Masongsong Lacsamana, legislative liaison officer Belinda A. Concepcion and Mylene T. Encarnacion, an officer in Napoles’ Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development (Cared) Foundation, guilty of three counts of graft and three counts of malversation.
The Sandiganbayan said the convicted persons connived and funneled at least P19.2 million from Jaraula’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), commonly known as pork barrel, intended for the projects in the said province, to the TRC and Cared.
They were all sentenced to six to 10 years of imprisonment for each of their respective graft convictions and 12 to 18 years behind bars for each count of malversation conviction.
The Sandiganbayan also ordered them to pay the government at least P56 million.
Jaraula was the only one found guilty of three counts of direct bribery for accepting P2-million grease money from Napoles. He was ordered to pay back the government P2 million for each count of bribery.
Garay said the decision was issued without considering their motion to reopen case which was filed in November 2020 on the ground that the main evidence cited by the prosecution is not admissible due to violation of the Cybercrime Law.
He cited the testimonies of whistleblowers Merlinda Sunas and Marina Sula, saying that the claim of Napoles’ distant relative Benhur Luy that he personally negotiated deals with Jaraula was fabricated.
Luy admitted hacking Napoles’ computer in order to obtain vital information to support his testimonies which made him “liable for violation of Section 18i of the Cybercrime Law,” according to the motion.
In 2015, Napoles was convicted for illegaly detaining Luy while she was also found guilty of plunder over the P10 billion pork barrel scam in December 2018. Luy also served as the whistleblower. She was held in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. (SunStar Philippines)