UP Lawyer slams Pangilinan over Napoles state witness remark: 'Mag-aral ka naman'

After Senator Francis Pangilinan claimed that Pork Barrel scam perpetrator Janet Lim Napoles cannot be a state witness in the reinvestigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) anomaly, Atty Trixie Angeles-Cruz said on Facebook that he was incorrect, and  Napoles needs to name bigger criminals, the officials involved.

She mentioned the laws of the court.



"The Rules of Court require the following:

(a) There is absolute necessity for the testimony of the accused whose discharge is requested;

(b) The is no other direct evidence available for the proper prosecution of the offense committed, except the testimony of said accused;

(c) The testimony of said accused can be substantially corroborated in its material points;

(d) Said accused does not appear to be the most guilty; and

(e) Said accused has not at any time been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude."

Hence, she said the Liberal Party senator is false. Since the crime to be looked into is plunder or graft, the persons primarily punished are government officials.

And since Napoles is not a government official, but an accomplice in a conspiracy, the ones most guilty must be government officials. Thus, she could be a state witness to a crime she participated in.

Pangilinan previously said that Napoles as witness is questionable.



"Siya mismo ang nakaipagsabwatan sa napakaraming kongregista at senador. Hindi tama na mastermind gagawin mong state witness. Hindi tama to, it is legally questionable."

Pangilinan said that she is not qualified to be a state witness because she is in fact, the mastermind behind the use of PDAF to release funds to nonexistent entities.

"Siya ang gumagawa ng paraan para ang iba't ibang kongresista ay makasama."

Napoles according to her lawyer Stephen David, is set to identify all government officials involved in the pork barrel scam.

“Of course, there will be more officials,” he said.

“If she will become state witness, she should tell everything she knows... whoever is involved should really be exposed. Whatever the truth is, it should come out. Because the truth will set you free," he added.

In another Facebook post of Atty. Trixie,  she emphasized that Napoles can be a state witness in all but one, and convict her in one case. "She will still serve the same sentence as if she was convicted in all of her cases," Cruz-Angeles said.



Read below post of Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles:

Dapat tutulan???

Sen. Kiko, kung magsalita ka akala mo naman iisa ang kaso. We are talking about dozens and dozens of accused. Maybe it will run into over a hundred. And we are talking about a scam that was being foisted on us for YEARS.

Are you telling me kahit isa dun, di sya pwede?

Sa criminal cases po, ang maximum na life sentence na ma serve ng isang convict ay 40 years. Kahit isang daang kaso pa yan. Pag tapak ng 40 years, out na sya. At some point then, it is no longer efficient for the courts and the DOJ to litigate every single one of her cases. Lumampas na tayo sa point of efficiency.

So if Napoles decides to plead guilty in all of them, we can dispense with proving her participation and guilt. Yung ibang co-accused na lang ang lalaban. But with her testimony many more will go to jail to serve their life sentences.

We can make Napoles a witness (kahit hindi state witness) in all but one, and convict her in one case. She will still serve the same sentence as if she was convicted in all of her cases.

#MagAralKaNaman #PuroSocMedAngNakakabistoSaInyo

SOURCE: Trixie Cruz-Angeles

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