MANILA, Philippines — Threats against Janet Lim Napoles' life and family are already futile after the alleged "pork barrel" scam mastermind submitted her sworn affidavit, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Tuesday.
"To those who want to do harm to her, the statement is already there. You have no motivation to silence her anymore," De Lima said in a televised press conference.
De Lima said among the reasons why the detained businesswoman finally agreed to cooperate in the plunder case on the multi-billion peso fraud are long-standing security threats even as she is detained.
Read: De Lima: Napoles tagged Enrile, Jinggoy and Bong
"She realizes, the more she remains silent and does not say anything, the more she remains at risk," the official said.
"Ngayon pa lang may sinabi siya na alleged security threats: sa cellphone, sa mga tawag, sa mga pamilya niya," she added.
Reiterating her opposition to transfer Napoles to a regular jail, De Lima said that the Department of Justice has been hoping that Napoles will eventually admit her participation in the scam and tag those behind it. She has been detained in Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguna, an extraordinary arrangement for suspects.
"May expectation yung gobyerno na magsasalita siya one of these days. Hindi naman tayo naniniwala na wala siyang alam ... So it's really just a matter of time," De Lima explained, citing Napoles' staunch denial of the scam before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last November.
De Lima agreed to meet with Napoles on Monday night after the detained businesswoman requested to see her before her scheduled operation at the Ospital ng Makati. The justice secretary said Napoles expressed hope to become state witness.
Also read: Now a state witness? Napoles submits testimony to DOJ
The decision to admit Napoles and grant her immunity, however, lies with the Office of the Ombudsman and not with the DOJ, De Lima clarified.
"Pending the completion of our validation of her claims, of her statements, wala ho muna kaming idi-disclose kahit ano'ng detalye," she said.