Aguirre admits to meeting Napoles lawyer but denies he gave him legal advice

Says Napoles, as “co-conspirator” in crime of plunder that targets public officials, is eligible for WPP

(Eagle News) — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on Tuesday admitted that he and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea met with Janet Lim Napoles’ lawyer in Malacanang.

But in a press conference in the Palace, Aguirre said there was never a time during the meeting he and Medialdea provided legal advice to Stephen David.

He said they only talked about Napoles’ situation “because Napoles was pushing for her transfer to a safehouse.”

This was in light of her  provisional admission into the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program after she executed an affidavit containing additional details about the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

According to Aguirre, during the meeting, David asked Medialdea if the executive secretary could overrule Aguirre’s opinion that Napoles’ camp should file a motion for the transfer before the Sandiganbayan, where she faces plunder cases in connection with the scheme.

But Aguirre told David that the justice secretary and Medialdea shared the same opinion.

“Napoles only a co-conspirator”

Aguirre also debunked opinions Napoles could not be considered for admission to the WPP.

According to Aguirre, Napoles, through her relatives and lawyer, approached the DOJ, “saying (she) was now ready to tell all about what she knows” about the pork barrel scam.

Aguirre also rejected the argument made by some individuals—Senate President Koko Pimentel and Senator Grace Poe, among others, for instance—that Napoles was the mastermind of the scam, and was therefore ineligible for the program meant only for the least guilty in the commission of a crime.

“..The cases she is facing are plunder cases. Pag plunder ang dapat idemanda diyan ay government officials. Then (Napoles) would just be a co-conspirator. Being a co conspirator, she is not the most guilty. Kaya she can be placed under the WPP,” Aguirre said.

He said it was a non-issue that Napoles’ plunder cases were being prosecuted by the Office of the Ombudsman, and not the DOJ.

He said if Napoles was granted full coverage under the DOJ’s WPP, the “coverage will be binding upon any and all courts including the Sandiganbayan.”