Janet Lim Napoles (center), the alleged pork barrel scam queen, is escorted out of the court room after being found guilty on her kidnapping and serious illegal detention case of scam whistleblower Benhur Luy at the Makati Regional Trial Court on Tuesday. Napoles was sentenced to permanent imprisonment. (MNS photo)
MANILA, Apr 13 (Mabuhay) – The Fourth Division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has allowed businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and Masbate Governor Rizalina Seachon-Lanete to post bail for their plunder case in connection with their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
“Wherefore, considering that there is a finding that the evidence of guilt of accused Lanete and accused Napoles is not strong for the reasons cited above, the respective applications for bail of accused Lanete and Napoles are hereby granted,” the dispositive portion of the ruling read.
The full copy of the ruling promulgated by the Fourth on April 12, has yet to be released to the media as of posting time.
The court set the bail for each accused at P500,000.
Lanete and Napoles are facing plunder and graft cases before the Fourth Division for the alleged misuse of the former’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel during her term as a Masbate representative.
Graft is a bailable offense while plunder is non-bailable if the prosecution would be able to prove that the evidence of guilt against an accused is strong.
Based on the information of the case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in February last year, Lanete received a total of P108.4-million worth of kickbacks by allocating her PDAF from 2004 to 2010 to fake foundations allegedly owned by Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork scam.
The Fourth Division has been hearing Lanete and Napoles’ bail petition for the plunder case since May 2015.
In February of this year, the Fourth Division has formally ended the bail hearing and ordered both the prosecution and the defense to submit their respective memorandum summarizing the positions and exhibits they presented in the course of the proceedings.
In a minute resolution issued on Monday, April 11, the court decided to admit all the evidence of both the prosecution and the defense cited in their respective memorandum and declared that Lanete and Napoles’ separate petitions were already deemed submitted for resolution.
Based on a Supreme Court memorandum, the trial court must resolve a bail petition within 48 hours after it is formally submitted for resolution, unless the court is able to obtain a permission from the High Tribunal for an extension in resolving the plea.
Lanete is detained at the BJMP Female Dormitory at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City since February 2015.
Napoles has other cases
But while Lanete may soon be released from detention, Napoles would have to remain in jail as she has already been sentenced to a reclusion perpetua by the Makati Regional Trial Court for an illegal detention case filed by her second cousin and former right-hand man Benhur Luy, the primary state witness in pork barrel scam cases.
Sandiganbayan First Division and Fifth Division have also earlier denied the petition for bail of Napoles as co-accused in the plunder case of Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, respectively, also in connection with the pork scam.
The Fourth Division’s ruling marked as the first instance that an accused of a pork-barrel scam related case has been granted bail.(MNS)