Senators to justice department: Probe Napoles husband too

MANILA, Philippines – What does Jimmy Napoles know about the corruption scandal his wife allegedly orchestrated? What does he know of the list of officials she implicated?

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III joined calls for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Senate to include the husband of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles in their investigations into the controversy.

Pimentel pointed out that Rehabilitation Secretary Panfilo Lacson identified retired Marine Major Jaime “Jimmy” Napoles as the source of his version of the list of officials Napoles said she transacted with.

“Jimmy Napoles gave the list to Ping Lacson. Lacson believed his source. Hence, Lacson’s source, Jimmy, must have been believable because he had personal knowledge of the ‘substance’ of the documents he gave Lacson,” Pimentel told Rappler.

“Now the question is: does Jimmy Napoles only have personal knowledge or does he have personal involvement in the scam which the documents and lists purportedly describe or prove?” Pimentel asked.

Referring to the unsigned affidavit of Janet that Jimmy Napoles gave Lacson, Pimentel said Mr Napoles cannot play stupid about the scam.

“Take note that this Jimmy Napoles is an educated man, hence he cannot use lack of education as a way out!”

Senators have scoffed at the unsigned Napoles affidavit given to Lacson, where she (Janet) supposedly downplayed her liability in the scam, citing her educational background.

“Honorable Ombudsman, please understand my situation. I am only a simple person who wanted to earn for my family. As a person who is only a high school graduate, then I sincerely believe that what I am doing is a legitimate and righteous business. Had I known that giving commission (sic) is illegal, I would not have done such thing,” Napoles supposedly said.

Pimentel was one of the 12 senators included in the signed list of officials Napoles implicated in the scandal. The senator denied the charge, saying he was included on the basis of a forged letter to the agriculture department for an organic farming project in Surigao del Sur in 2012.

He filed criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman against 4 agriculture officials for the alleged forgery.

Napoles faces plunder charges for allegedly conniving with top lawmakers and executive officials to funnel their pork barrel funds to her bogus non-governmental organizations, and in exchange, split with them millions of pesos in kickbacks.

Napoles’ co-accused are her two children, Jo Christine Napoles and James Christoper Napoles, charged with violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Yet Jimmy is not included in the case.

‘Jimmy knows a lot’

On Wednesday, Senator Francis Escudero also said the Senate should summon Jimmy Napoles when it continues its probe into the scam. Last year, Escudero already asked that Jimmy be called to the hearing but this has yet to happen.

“I thought he knew nothing about the scam because he has no case. It turns out he knows something. Perhaps the DOJ should also include him in its investigation because it seems he knows so much,” Escudero said.

The senator said Jimmy Napoles’ submission of the unsigned affidavit to Lacson is telling. “If the affidavit and history of [the scam] came from Jimmy Napoles, then he knows so much.” 

In earlier hearings, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano also pointed out that Jimmy Napoles owned a company called Jimmy’s Bar and Grill, where one of the incorporators is an agriculture employee named Manuel Jarmin. Jarmin supposedly introduced the Napoles couple to National Agribusiness Corporation president Alan Javellana.

Jimmy was a captain in the Marines when he took part in the 1989 coup attempt against the Corazon Aquino administration. A Rappler profile of Napoles said her husband’s military connections helped her establish her racket. “He and Janet started making money when they obtained government contracts.”

Jimmy Napoles was initially charged in connection with the dubious P3.8 million purchase of 500 Kevlar helmets for the Marines but was eventually dropped from the case.  

When Napoles testified before the Senate in November 2013, she said her source of wealth was her husband’s coal business in Indonesia. – Rappler.com