And so we see yet another twist in the ongoing pork barrel controversy, this time businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles sending feelers about wanting to turn state witness in order to escape prosecution.
Her latest claim which she may later deny or recant once she’s placed on a witness stand is that she did business with 12 senators and an assortment of legislators in the Lower House which former senator Panfilo Lacson said is enough to constitute a quorum.
Napoles’ accomplices-turned-state witnesses howled in protest over her turnaround, sincere or not, since this would negate whatever deals they made with the government.
If, and that is a big if, Lim’s testimony is sufficient to pin down Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla it would only be a matter of time before the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman can pin down the rest of the pork barrel syndicate and its sycophants.
But all we’re getting are teasers and sound bites that may mean anything. The public may soon lose interest and dismiss this as yet another piece of political entertainment from the Aquino administration.
If the President and his allies disclosed Lim’s willingness to tell all in hopes of baiting Sen. Enrile’s former chief of staff Gigi Reyes into testifying, they’re wrong, at least for now.
An aide had supposedly admitted to fabricating the signatures in documents signed for the release of the pork barrel funds which would clear Reyes and Enrile of any involvement.
That, plus the fact that the payoffs were done through stacks of money bills stashed inside bags and delivered to their recipients makes it harder for government to prove their case.
So is the government left with no other option but to tap Napoles as a state witness? We hear a resounding ‘no’ from those who’ve seen how Lim answered all the queries on the pork barrel scam thrown at her.
After having amnesia, now Napoles is on a tell-all mode and it may have something to do with her going under the knife. She may not be anywhere near death’s door but confession isn’t only good for her soul but also serves as fodder for the graft cases filed against Enrile, Revilla and Estrada.
But should Napoles be made a state witness? The answer lies in that leaked video showing her daughter Jean living it up in California during her 18th birthday.
The brazen display of wealth stolen from the sweat and toil of honest, hard-working Filipinos should be testament enough about Napoles’ culpability in the pork barrel corruption.
If and when the government considers Napoles as state witness, the least she can do, aside from testifying about the truth, is return what she stole from the Filipino people.