MANILA, Philippines – Janet Lim Napoles will stay in detention.

The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 on Wednesday, February 12, denied for lack of merit the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind’s motion for reconsideration on her request to post bail.

Napoles, who is currently detained at the Fort Sto Domingo in Laguna for serious illegal detention charges, filed a motion to grant her bail in September 2013.

Serious illegal detention is a non-bailable offense, but Section 7 under Rule 114 of the the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure says “no person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution.”

Judge Elmo Alameda dismissed the bail petition on Nov 21, 2013, concluding “that the offense of serious illegal detention as charged, has been committed” by Napoles. Napoles through her lawyers filed a motion for reconsideration because “the evidence presented by the prosecution is not strong to foreclose her right to bail.” 

The decision read: “The matters raised by [Napoles] in her motion for reconsideration have already been thoroughly discussed and passed upon by this court.” 

Napoles and her brother Reynald “Jojo” Lim are accused of detaining aide-turned-whistleblower Benhur Luy from December 2012 to March 2013 after the two discovered Luy was dabbling into the same business of Napoles – tapping into lawmakers’ pork barrel funds through bogus non-governmental organizations. Lim is still at-large. (READ: Napoles to Benhur: You stole my PDAF)

Marathon hearings were scheduled for Napoles’ bail petitions, with several pork barrel scam whistleblowers standing as witnesses. The hearings took a dramatic turn on its last day when lawyer Lorna Kapunan resigned as Napoles’ lead counsel.

Alfred Villamor, who was counsel for Napoles’ JLN Corporation and collaborating counsel in the case, took over as lead counsel. On the last day of bail hearings, the defense presented only one witness before the court.

Makati RTC Branch 150 Clerk of Court Diosfa Valencia earlier told Rappler that it would take “up to a year” for the serious illegal detention case to be heard. The first trial day for the case is set for February 18, at 9:30 a.m. – Rappler.com