THE opinion of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales should prevail in whether or not alleged pork-barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles should be made a state witness in the planned reopening of the investigations on the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Wednesday.
He said Carpio-Morales could still change her mind after she rejected Napoles as a state witness in the cases to be filed by the Justice Department.
“Under the law, it’s the Ombudsman who will prosecute the plunder cases. If that’s the opinion of the Ombudsman, then it should prevail,” Panelo said.
“I think what [Justice] Secretary [Vitaliano] Aguirre [II] wants is for the Ombudsman to consider such an alternative, but ultimately it’s the Ombudsman who will decide… [The future] Plunder cases [involving Napoles] are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.”
On Tuesday, Carpio-Morales vowed that her office would block any moves to turn Napoles into a state witness but said they were not bothered by the “exploratory talks” between the Justice Department and the Napoles camp.
Panelo said the Palace would have to defer to the decision of the Justice Department to consider Napoles as a state witness.
“It could be that that’s the initial impression of the Ombudsman,” Panelo said.
“As I always say, there are as many opinions as there are lawyers. And lawyers can change their mind depending on the facts.”
Aguirre said Napoles could be a government witness on the new cases to be filed but not on the pending cases before the Sandiganbayan.