(Eagle News) — Malacanang assured the public that there is no whitewash in the cases involving controversial pork barrel personality, Janet Lim Napoles, as it dismissed accusations that there was a deal between her and the government.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the Court of Appeals decision to acquit Napoles on the illegal detention case filed against her by whistleblower Benhur Luy has “no direct impact on her pork-barrel cases.”
“Government is clear that there is no policy shift on how we deal with Napoles. Neither is there an agreement forged between the Duterte administration and Napoles,” Abella said in a statement.
He said that President Duterte has “repeatedly asserted the independence of the three branches of government.”
“He (President Duterte) has vowed not to interfere with the decisions of the judiciary or legislature, and assures the people that he will respect and not influence the results of their decision,” Abella stressed.
“The tri-partite separation of powers will be strictly observed under this administration,” he added.
The Court of Appeals earlier cleared Napoles in the crime of serious illegal detention of Luy, her second-cousin.
“The prosecution has not discharged its burden of proof in establishing the commission of the crime charged and in identifying the Accused-Appellant (Napoles) as the malefactor responsible for it,” the CA’s decision dated May 5, 2017 read.
While the CA has ordered the immediate release of Napoles from detention in connection with the serious illegal detention case, she still has pending graft and plunder cases which are non-bailable. She therefore still has to stay in jail even after the CA decision.
Napoles is facing criminal cases over the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.