JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA AND RITCHIE A. HORARIO
SEN. Grace Poe on Sunday said Janet Lim Napoles should be summoned back to the Senate so that she can finally talk about the pork barrel scam.
Poe said the Senate should not wait for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to release the affidavit and the list of lawmakers who were reportedly involved in the anomaly given to her by Napoles before she had her surgery at the Ospital ng Makati two weeks ago.
“Ipatawag na lang ngayon si Napoles, kung ayaw magsalita at ituro ang affidavit then bahala na ang komite kung ano gagawin sa kanya, (Napoles should be summoned by the committee. If she refuses to talk, then let the committee decide on what to do with her),” Poe said in a radio interview on Sunday.
The senator said the Filipino people should also know what is in the documents submitted to de Lima.
If Napoles refuses to appear at the Senate, the blue ribbon panel can invite the Justice chief so that she can be questioned about the information given to her by the jailed businesswoman, Poe said.
The senator is worried that the public would get more suspicious the longer the documents are kept classified. The senator noted that the documents are now the property of the Filipino people.
Poe said since de Lima already admitted that Napoles submitted her affidavit, there is no need to have the affidavit evaluated before summoning Napoles to the Senate once again.
Senator Teofisto Guingona 3rd, chair of the blue ribbon committee, said he will wait for the DOJ to finish its evaluation of the documents before deciding whether or not the panel should resume its inquiry into the scam.
No complications
Meanwhile, doctors said there were no complications in Napoles’ surgery and she could be discharged from OsMak anytime.
OsMak officials submitted a report to the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 presided by Judge Elmo Alameda.
The one-page progress report was submitted and signed by Dr. Perry Ishmael Peralta, OsMak’s medical director, and Dr. Florentina Villanueva, head of the hospital’s Obstetrician/Gynecologist Department.
According to a court personnel interviewed by The Manila Times, the report indicated that there were no complications in the operation performed on the businesswoman.
Because of this, OsMak officials told the court that Napoles could be discharged anytime soon.
The court personnel, however, said there was no exact date when Napoles will be discharged.
“The patient will be discharged soon. That’s all, there was no exact date,” the court personnel told The Manila Times.
Peralta earlier said it will take 26 days before Napoles could fully recover if there were no complications in her surgery.
Apart from the serious illegal detention case, the businesswoman is also facing plunder charges in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam together with some senators and government officials.
Napoles is being accused of conspiring with lawmakers, such as Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, to pocket millions of pesos in kickbacks from the alleged anomaly.
Once she will be discharged, Napoles will be brought back to the Fort Santo Domingo in Santa Rosa, Laguna.