SC affirms ruling granting bail to Napoles in one PDAF case

The Supreme Court has affirmed a ruling allowing businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and former Masbate Representative Rizalina Seachon-Lanete to post bail in their plunder case related to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. 

In a resolution, the SC Third Division dismissed the petition filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of the Office of the Ombudsman challenging the Sandiganbayan’s resolution, which granted Napoles and Lanete’s application for bail. 

Napoles, however, remains in jail as she serves time for other PDAF-related crimes. 

The SC held that the OSP failed to prove that there was evident guilt or a great presumption of guilt that would warrant the denial of Napoles and Lanete’s right to bail.

“As such, the Court finds that the Sandiganbayan did not commit any grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in issuing the assailed resolutions. The grant of Napoles and Lanete’s applications for bail stands,” the high court said.

The SC said that the OSP failed to present evidence to show that the threshold amount of P50 million in ill-gotten wealth for plunder cases was reached.

Napoles was initially accused of pocketing P64 million, but the Sandiganbayan excluded several daily disbursement records as these were found to be irrelevant or were not properly identified and offered as evidence.  

“Failure to reach the said amount is fatal because it is a crucial element in the crime of plunder. Any proof that there was an accumulation of ill-gotten wealth, but in an amount less than P50 [million], means that the accused committed a crime other than the crime of plunder,” it said.

The SC made it clear that the ruling was ”without prejudice to the OSP’s right to present any additional evidence during the trial proper.” 

Napoles is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women.

In 2018, Napoles was found guilty of plunder in connection with the misuse of Senator Ramon ”Bong” Revilla Jr.’s PDAF allocations. 

In February 2021, the Sandiganbayan convicted Napoles, former Cagayan de Oro Representative Constantino Jaraula, and three others of three counts of graft and three counts of malversation for pocketing at least P19.2 million of the lawmaker’s pork barrel.

In May last year, the Sandiganbayan Second Division found Napoles guilty of two counts of graft and two counts of malversation over the illegal disbursement of the P7.6 million pork barrel fund of former Davao del Sur Representative Douglas Cagas.

The Sandiganbayan also found Napoles guilty of nine counts of corruption of public official for receiving P8,999,500 in kickbacks off the pork barrel of former APEC party-list lawmaker Edgar Valdez in October. 

In the same month, she was sentenced to 64 years in prison after being found guilty of four counts each of graft and malversation of public funds in connection with the illegal disbursement of at least P20 million from the pork barrel of former South Cotabato Representative Arthur Pingoy. — VBL, GMA Integrated News