Palace to wait for evaluation of Napoles documents

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang will evaluate the affidavits of Janet Lim-Napoles in the possession of presidential assistant on rehabilitation and recovery Panfilo Lacson and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Napoles spoke with De Lima in the presence of counsel.

“So I can only go by the statement of Secretary Leila de Lima,” he said.

“We will leave with Secretary Ping Lacson whatever knowledge, whatever document he knows. But at the end of the day, it will be evaluated – whatever Secretary Lacson has and whatever was shared with Secretary Leila de Lima, that will all be evaluated.”

Lacierda said he has known De Lima to have always been very forthright. “What she is doing right now is… they are evaluating the testimony submitted by Ms. Janet Napoles,” he said.

“We can tell you that Secretary Leila de Lima already said that she was not expecting the investigation and evaluation to have political color.”

Lacierda said since Napoles came out and spoke to De Lima, they had reposed their confidence in the justice secretary to evaluate and investigate her testimony.

“We want everything to be evidence-based to be sure that the cases that we will be filing will be substantiated by truth,” he said. “So as of this point, we will just wait for the evaluation of Secretary De Lima. It’s hard for us to make any judgment at this point because …we will be going into the realm of speculation.”

Lacierda said he cannot pass judgment on the statement of Lacson.

“He has a copy of the unsigned affidavit but… again, what we will be guided (by) would be the evaluation to be made by the Department of Justice,” he said.

Everything would boil down to whatever would be “evaluated and found” by De Lima’s team, he added.

Lacierda said he was not in a position to say whether some lawmakers are trying to clear their names with President Aquino.

“None that I know of. I don’t even know… what the list is,” he said.

Lacierda said Lacson himself disclosed that he had not spoken with Aquino regarding the matter, and that they would leave it all up to him to decide whether to discuss his information with the President.

“We will defer to the judgment of Secretary Lacson,” he said.

Lacierda said the testimony of Napoles given to De Lima would not be released without going through the proper procedure.

“As with all the whistle-blowers that have come out, it was evaluated prior to it coming out,” he said.

Lacierda said the prosecution would evaluate whether Napoles could become a state witness, and that the Office of the Ombudsman and eventually the Sandiganbayan would make the final determination.

“We are not there yet,” he said

“There are no assurances that Ms. Janet Napoles will be discharged as a state witness. That was the request of Ms. Napoles. Secretary Leila de Lima never made any guarantees to her.

“It will – as we have always stated – be based on the evidence that were given to her. So what are we doing? We are evaluating the testimony of Ms. Janet Napoles, and whether it will go one way or the other, it will be up to the evaluation of the justice department.”

Lacierda said everything would still have to be studied, “taking into consideration the rules on criminal procedure, taking into consideration the jurisprudence that have been laid down by the Supreme Court.”

Napoles advised to tell all

Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle advised yesterday Napoles to tell the truth and return the money that does not belong to her.

“My inclination is that whether she is a state witness or not, she should tell the truth,” he said. “Do you need to be a state witness to tell the truth?”

Tagle said it is justifiable for Napoles to return the kickbacks that she reportedly received from taxpayers’ money.

“Justice demands (that she return the money) whether she becomes a state witness or not,” he said.

“Let us not make things complicated – tell the truth and let us return the money that does not belong to us.”

Palawan Bishop Pedro Arigo criticized the delaying tactics to prolong the investigation into the multibillion-peso scam. – With Evelyn Macairan