Napoles, Lañete granted bail from plunder over pork barrel scam.

Accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has granted the bail of accused mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and dismissed Masbate governor Rizalina Seachon-Lañete from plunder over the pork barrel scam.

Although being granted bail, Napoles cannot be released from detention because her bail had been denied in other divisions hearing the plunder case.

She is also serving life sentence for the serious illegal detention of whistleblower Benhur Luy.

The court granted the bail of dismissed Masbate governor Lañete from plunder, initially a non-bailable offense, confirmed Atty. Laurence Arroyo.

She is set to pay her bail today, he added.

Lañete was the first lawmaker embroiled in the pork barrel scam granted bail by the Sandiganbayan. Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was allowed to post bail by the Supreme Court due to humanitarian reasons.

READ: Detained governor pleads not guilty in pork barrel case

According to the court decision promulgated Tuesday, the prosecution failed to prove that Lañete received from Napoles the threshold P50 million kickbacks to constitute plunder.

The court said the prosecution even admitted that Napoles and Lañete never met personally, and that Lañete never attended the parties or sponsored Masses, or visited the office of Napoles.

The prosecution had also admitted that Lañete and Napoles never met personally to discuss the percentage of kickbacks.

Witness Luy had also said that he handed the kickbacks not to Napoles but to Lañete’s chief of staff Jose Sumalpong, who is at large for plunder.

The court said there were some instances that Lañete’s projects with Napoles were not “ghost projects” after all.

“Luy himself claims that accused Lañete once talked to him over the phone, asking that the vests to be delivered in her favorite color orange. This shows that there was indeed a delivery of items,” the court said.

Lañete is accused of pocketing P108.405 million allegedly siphoned from her Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) from 2004 to 2010.

She is detained at the female dormitory of Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.
READ: Masbate governor now detained in Bicutan with Napoles, Gigi Reyes
In its complaint, the Ombudsman said Lañete when she was Masbate representative misused P112.29 million of PDAF from 2007 to 2009.

Based on whistleblower Benhur Luy’s ledger, Lañete from 2004 to 2010 received P108.405 million in kickbacks, of which P73.065 million were siphoned from Lañete’s PDAF from 2007 to 2009.

In its indictment, the Ombudsman said “Lañete continuously endorsed the implementation of her PDAF-funded livelihood and agricultural projects to questionable NGOs associated with or controlled by Napoles.”

“(Lañete’s) P112.29 million PDAF was anomalously used for livelihood projects, financial assistance to farmers, farm inputs and farm implements, skills training and distribution of livelihood kits in nail care, wellness, massage and candle- making.  Several Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) were entered into between Lañete, Technology Resource Center, National Agribusiness Corp and the NGO-partners,” the Ombudsman said.

Lañete is part of the first batch of lawmakers charged for purportedly pillaging public funds in ghost projects for kickbacks in connivance with accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

APEC Rep. Edgar Valdez also faces plunder for allegedly raking in P57.787 million in kickbacks.  Valdez is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa with his bail plea denied.

Meanwhile, facing malversation raps are former Agusan Del Sur. Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa, and Cagayan De Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula.

The antigraft court is also hearing the plunder cases of detained senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile.

With their bail pleas denied, Revilla and Estrada are detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center. CDG. By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab