Manila, Philippines --- No secret deal, no special treatment.
All that President Aquino wants is for the truth behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam to finally come out and guarantee the safety of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles while under police custody, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
A few hours after her surrender, Judge Elmo Alameda, Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150, ordered Napoles’ transfer to the Makati City Jail (MCJ).
Alameda also directed PNP CIDG National Capital Region head Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo “to transfer the custody of Napoles to the jail warden of the Makati City Jail where this court exercises jurisdiction.”
Lacierda, who was instrumental in the surrender of the wanted trader, said, “The President wants also the truth to come out and we’re now closer to the truth hopefully with her coming out.”
“In fact, how the President views this very seriously was the fact that he offered a P10-million bounty so that shows the gravity of this wanting to find Ms. Napoles. So now that she’s present, now that she has been secured, she has been detained, the case should move forward,” he added.
While the government is determined to pursue truth and justice behind the pork barrel scam, the government has neither forged a compromise deal nor extended extraordinary treatment during the surrender of Napoles to President Aquino late Wednesday night.
In fact, Napoles, the alleged brains behind the controversial misuse of the congressional pork barrel is not yet off the hook and will still face appropriate charges in court, Lacierda said.
After several days on the run, Napoles finally surrendered to the President who turned him over to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and Philippine National Police Chief, Director General Alan Purisima in Camp Crame.
Very Important Prisoner
But Napoles must be a very important prisoner to the government that no less than President Aquino personally inspected her temporary detention cell to make sure the area is secured.
“The President wanted to make sure that the area was secure so he went in to inspect the premises and, after that, umalis na rin si Pangulong Aquino [the President also left],” Lacierda said.
In the presence of Lacierda, Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, among others, the President met Napoles for 10 minutes in Malacañang where he assured her safety while in detention.
Napoles, accompanied by her husband Jimmy and lawyer Lorna Kapuntan, was frisked by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) but was not handcuffed during her surrender, according to Lacierda.
Brushing aside criticisms the government was bending over backward for Napoles, Lacierda defended that the President did the “right thing” when he received the surrendering fugitive and ordered the police to ensure her safety.
The only request made by Napoles was adequate security protection due the “serious threats” on her life, according to Lacierda.
“Let me just say that the President is an honorable man. It’s in our culture that the fugitive who throws himself at the mercy of the highest official, the President is honor-bound to secure and receive the fugitive. This is not the first time it happened,” he said.
He explained that the President opted to join the team that brought Napoles to Camp Crame since he was already up anyway.
“Sabi niya, total puyat na tayo, damay-damay na [Since we are already all up at night, let’s do this together],” Lacierda said quoting the President.
“The President views this matter very seriously and we wanted to make sure that she is turned over to the courts,” he said about Aquino’s decision to bring the fugitive to the police headquarters.
PNoy Is Napoles’ Trusted Man
Besides, Lacierda said the President was the only person trusted by Napoles who has expressed fear for her life. “And so, they asked that Ms. Napoles be surrendered to the President.
And this being not the first time it has happened, time and again, where a sitting president has received a surrendering fugitive, this is not extraordinary,” he added.
Other fugitives who may want to do a Janet Napoles and surrender to President Aquino may do so, Lacierda said.
He noted that it was not the first time that a Philippine president received a surrendering fugitive. Four other Philippines presidents, namely Manuel L. Quezon, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, and Fidel Ramos, actually received wanted individuals during their terms.
Asked if the government will now run after the big fishes involved in the pork barrel scam, Lacierda said: “The President has already said where the evidence leads, we will go there so please don’t preempt our administration. The investigations are ongoing and, once charges are filed, you will know.”
Binay Hopeful
Vice President Jejomar C. Binay expressed hope that Napoles will reveal “everything she knows” about the P10-billion pork barrel scam and the people involved “regardless of their political affiliations.”
“It’s good that she surrendered. I just hope she will tell the truth and bare everything she knows so that those involved in the scam would be brought to justice and be made accountable for their transgressions to the Filipino people, regardless of their political affiliations,” Binay said in a statement.
Damned If We Do, Damned If We Don’t
Lacierda also rejected insinuations by some groups that the surrender of Napoles was part of a well-written script by the Palace, saying the government was stuck in a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
“(If) we don’t do something, we’re damned by some sectors. We do something to protect and to ensure that now the truth can move forward, we’re still damned,” Lacierda said. “But we will still do the right thing. The President has chosen to do the right thing in this case to ensure that the truth now can move forward,” he added.
Lacierda also maintained that Napoles underwent the regular process as any fugitive. He explained that she was not placed on police handcuffs because she voluntarily surrendered anyway.
“The important thing here is that she has now been secured, she has now been detained. She has gone through the regular booking as any fugitive. So because she’s involved in this massive scale of anomaly, we have to make sure that her presence was secured,” he said.
He said the government hopes Napoles’ brother, Reynald Lim, will also surrender soon.
