Napoles provisionally admitted to Witness Protection Program

March 16, 2018

The Department of Justice has provisionally admitted suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles into the government’s Witness Protection Program after she executed an affidavit, which provided more details on the misuse of the multi-billion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund of lawmakers. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Friday Napoles has been placed under the provisional coverage of the government’s WPP. "We confirm that Janet L. Napoles has been placed under Provisional Admission of WPP subject to affidavit she submitted which is now undergoing assessment," Aguirre said in a text message. "As of the moment, physically she is not under WPP due to provisional status of admission. If requested by subject we can provide additional security and as warranted, address medical needs," Aguirre admitted. Last year, Aguirre formed a new task force to reinvestigate the multi-billion peso anomaly after meeting one of Napoles' counsel. He said Napoles implicated at least three more senators and two former executive officials in the PDAF scam. The reinvestigation on PDAF scam came after the Court of Appeals acquitted Napoles in the illegal detention case filed by pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy before the Makati regional trial court. Napoles remains in detention since she is facing plunder, graft and malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan, along with former senators Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon  Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile. DMS