Remember no evil

The truth shall set you free, literally, senators promised Janet Lim-Napoles yesterday.

It didn’t work; Napoles remembered no evil. Invoking amnesia as she faced the Senate yesterday, she refused to implicate any lawmaker tagged in the pork barrel scam.

Instead she insisted on her innocence and said she expected to be cleared. Certainly she did not intend to languish behind bars for the next 40 years, when she would be – as Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago naughtily observed – older than the current oldest member of the Senate. That happens to be Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile; is he the “tanda” referred to in Napoles’ former corporate circle?

She may not have the legal brilliance needed – as Senator Miriam pointed out – to design the intricate pork barrel skimming operation, but Napoles was clever enough to dodge the most strenuous efforts to make her pin down Enrile, who already faces a criminal complaint in connection with the scam.

Napoles’ obstinate refusal to sing like a canary reflected either the type of loyalty prized in certain quarters of Pinoy society, or profound fear of the consequences on her loved ones if she talked. She pleaded with the senators not to drag her brothers into the mess, even if they are already in deep muck for tax evasion.

There is, of course, the possibility that Napoles actually believes she is going to be cleared.

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We got hints of her defense strategy yesterday. Those signatures in incriminating documents weren’t hers, she told senators with a straight face. She indicated that her former employees, including relatives such as Benhur Luy, have conspired against her, for reasons still to be specified at her trial.

Considering the nation’s record in sending plunderers to prison, Napoles’ position is not surprising. And her refusal to talk yesterday was hardly unexpected. Her legal team already said as much when senators were debating whether she should be summoned to face the Blue Ribbon committee.

There’s wisdom in the Singaporean way of extracting the truth from crime suspects: take down their statements without giving them the benefit of legal counsel as soon as they are apprehended, and before they can be briefed by lawyers about ways of bending the truth to evade conviction.

Like any accused individual with good lawyers, Napoles appeared to have been sufficiently prepped for her faceoff with the whistle-blowers, right down to her facial expressions. She looked dismayed, distressed and wrongfully accused as her former employees testified against her and called her a liar.

She flushed when Senator Miriam began grilling her, but that meant nothing; the senator tends to have that effect on many people.

Still, Napoles’ apparent terror of Senator Miriam must have paled against her terror of other individuals. Napoles resolutely kept her mouth shut.

This promises to be a tough, protracted legal battle – one that would not be resolved within the daang matuwid administration.

Simeon Marcelo, who as ombudsman successfully prosecuted Joseph Estrada and secured the ousted president’s conviction for plunder, told us how difficult the effort was, how the painstaking sleuthing entailed enormous investments in time, effort and resources.

Marcelo was not sure if the effort triggered his andropause or if he found the process so draining because of the onset of male menopause.

The toll on his health compelled Marcelo to quit as ombudsman. But he is remembered for a feat that is rare in this country – snaring a big fish and securing his conviction. Erap did not spend a second behind bars following his conviction, but that’s another story. And he did spend six years in detention without bail.

Since the Marcos regime, everyone else has managed to get away with large-scale corruption, so we shouldn’t be surprised if Napoles believes she can get away with everything.

Who knows, when this is all over, she might even be able to run for high office – and win. By that time (we hope), public officials would have lost any form of discretionary funds. But politicians always find ingenious ways of personal enrichment at public expense.

The nation must always remember that Napoles is not the only one on trial in this case.

There are precious reputations, grand political ambitions, family fortunes and billions of pesos at stake, and powerful personalities implicated. They are not about to be bamboozled – or allow their co-accused to be bamboozled – into serving up their guilt to prosecutors on a silver platter.

It’s not just for drama that Napoles and the whistle-blowers attend Senate hearings wearing flak vests (although what happens if a gunman aims for their head or neck?).

Her Senate appearance yesterday showed that Napoles is going to fight back, no doubt about it, and she’s aiming to win. Prosecutors should be ready for a bruising legal battle.

It would be a shame if Napoles’ declaration of innocence would be upheld by the courts.