MUST READ! No deal with Napoles in SolGen pushing for her Acquittal

MUST READ! No deal with Napoles in SolGen pushing for her Acquittal

MAGAZINE
Published February 15,2017
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Solicitor General Jose Calida on Wednesday defended his position to move for the acquittal of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles before the Court of Appeals.

Calida insisted that the move was based on the merits and that there was no deal with the businesswoman, who's now serving time for the serious illegal detention of scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.

At a press conference, Calida said he was convinced, after reviewing the case, that the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 erred in its decision handed down in April 2015.

"We cannot be blind to injustice. In this case, injustice was done to Janet Napoles," Calida said.

"There is no deal with Napoles. My interest is to see to it that justice is done," he added.

Calida also said President Rodrigo Duterte had nothing to do with their actions on the case.

"I repeat, the President does not instruct his Cabinet members on what to do," the solicitor general said.

Napoles and his brother, Reynald Lim, were accused of detaining Luy from December 20, 2012 to March 22, 2013 to prevent him from disclosing the businesswoman’s racket of siphoning off Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations through ghost projects.

The businesswoman had denied detaining Luy, claiming her estranged personal assistant went on a spiritual retreat in exchange for the non-filing of cases against him for allegedly stealing P300,000 and obtaining loans worth more than P5 million without her consent.

Napoles was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or 20 years and one day up to 40 years in jail while Lim remains at large and was never arraigned