MANILA, August 29, 2013— No way.
To an official of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Janet Lim-Napoles should be charged instead of tapping her as state witness in the P10 billion pork barrel scam.
Sr. Mary John Mananzan, AMRSP co-chairperson, said that Napoles must be prosecuted so the government can go after bigger fish such as lawmakers who diverted public funds to ghost projects.
“I’m glad that she surrendered. But excuse me! I don’t want her to be a state witness. She does not deserve impunity,” Mananzan said over Radio Veritas on Thursday.
Malacañang on Thursday said that Napoles is “key” to ferret out the truth behind the issue involving some senators and congressmen but is mum on whether she be a state witness.
But the Justice department earlier did not rule out tapping the alleged brains behind the pork barrel fund mess as state witness to go after lawmakers involved in the scam.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, meanwhile, warned against efforts to “divert” the public’s attention to Napoles’ case instead of focusing on the need to abolish the pork barrel system.
“The real issue here is not about Napoles but about the pork barrel and the lawmakers who are traitors of the country,” Pabillo said. (CBCPNews)
