MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles denied that her embattled client underwent cosmetic surgery to evade arrest.
"That is absurd... She had plastic surgery daw to look like me. That is why they could not find her," Lawyer Lorna Kapunan said in an interview on ANC on Wednesday noon.
In the same interview, Kapunan claimed that Napoles is still in the country more than a week after an arrest warrant was issued against her, stemming from the illegal detention charges filed by pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.
"She has nothing to hide," said Kapunan. "I am believing that she has nothing to hide, that she... will come forward."
Kapunan also claimed that the nationwide manhunt for Napoles is not an indication that the government wants her to resurface. She said the P10-million reward for her client's arrest as announced by President Benigno Aquino III is not an incentive for her to come out
Related story: P10-M reward for Napoles' arrest
"They (authorities) are placing every obstacle in the way to her coming forward and surrendering herself," Kapunan said.
The lawyer added that Napoles is willing to surrender if she is assured of her safety.
Napoles has been accused of setting-up bogus non-government organizations that received lawmakers' pork barrel.
The Commission on Audit has revealed in a report that some NGOs linked to Napoles received the pork barrel of lawmakers from 2007 to 2009.
Related story: COA confirms 10 Napoles NGOs got P2-B 'pork'