Dispatch from Crame No. 266:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on Napoles' acceptance into the WPP

3/17/28

Under this government I have stopped thinking that things could not get any worse. Because they always do. No matter how bad yesterday's headline was, trust this government to come up with something more shocking the next day.

After dismissing the cases against drug lords Peter Lim, Kerwin Espinosa, and Peter Co, the DOJ now puts accused plunderer Janet Lim-Napoles under the Witness Protection Program. This is also why SolGen Calida asked for her acquittal from charges of kidnapping Benhur Luy, so she can eventually qualify as a state witness under the WPP.

Secretary Aguirre's problem here is that Napoles' plunder case is being prosecuted by the Ombudsman, not the DOJ. So his next step here would be to pressure the Office of the Special Prosecutor under the Ombudsman to drop Napoles from the list of the accused and make her a state witness. Unlike the Deputy Ombudsman, the Special Prosecutor is under the disciplinary authority of the President. Malacañang can easily undermine the Special Prosecutor's independent judgment in this case, and force him to drop Napoles as an accused.

But then again the next problem here is that Napoles would have to be a state witness against Duterte allies Enrile, Jinggoy, and Bong Revilla, her co-accused in the plunder cases pending trial at the Sandiganbayan. This goes against the very purpose of Aguirre and Malacañang in making Napoles a state witness, which is to implicate opposition legislators and personalities in the PDAF Scam.

How the DOJ will go about performing this legal calisthenics is what we should be vigilant about. They already took the first step in the exoneration of the mastermind of the PDAF scam. Soon they will be using her to testify against the opposition in exchange for keeping her loot and maintaining her daughter's extravagant lifestyle, free of taxes.

Napoles is no different from a karaoke club regular. She will sing anything she is asked to. This is why she was never seriously considered as a state witness by the Aquino Administration. Her first question to us then was "sino ba ang gusto ninyong isama?" It became clear to us then that just like any thief, Napoles will say anything to get herself off the hook. She is indeed the ideal witness for a crooked administration, to use against its critics and vocal dissenters. Napoles will parrot anything, just like the Bilibid drug inmates used by Duterte and Aguirre against me.

The bottom line here is that this administration never cared about justice, or fighting crime or corruption. It has taken great pains to exonerate drug lords and now, an accused plunderer, so it can use Napoles against opposition senators and congressmen, whether former or incumbent, and former Aquino officials.

Duterte was never interested in fighting crime or corruption, as he continues to appoint the most shady and corrupt characters in government positions. His only interest is to silence dissent and muzzle critics, and to run the country as he ran Davao, like a Mafia gangster.

This is why Aguirre should never resign. He is perfect for this kind of criminal and corrupt government, and for a criminal and corrupt President. In the meantime, we just have to forget about justice altogether, while the DOJ is still run by criminals, and while Malacañang is still occupied by a gangster. It is useless to ask Aguirre to resign, because he is not the problem. Duterte is. Without Duterte, someone as obnoxious and corrupt as Aguirre won't even be DOJ Secretary.

#KayaPaBaBayan?