Chiz: Keeping
Napoles in special jail sends wrong signal
By Office of Senator Chiz
Escudero
March 6, 2014
PASAY CITY – Senator
Chiz Escudero said Janet Lim-Napoles should be moved to a regular jail
because her continued detention in a special facility would only
encourage those who are contemplating to commit crimes in the future.
In today’s continuation of
the pork barrel scam investigation in the Senate, Escudero pointed out
that keeping Napoles in a special jail sets a bad precedent and sends
the wrong signal to the public, and therefore should be transferred to
a regular prison cell.
“My problem here is quite
simple. Those who have plundered the national coffers in billions get
to stay in Sta. Rosa or any hospital much to their comfort. Those
whose crimes pale so much in comparison with Napoles – the cell phone
snatchers and the street snatchers – languish in cramped and dingy
jails. It’s like teaching our children that if they must steal, steal
big so at least you get to be jailed in the comfort of those special
cells,” Escudero said.
Since Napoles’ appearance
last year before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Escudero has been
pushing for her transfer to a regular jail.
And in today’s hearing, the
senator again questioned Justice Secretary Leila de Lima why Napoles,
dubbed as the pork barrel scam queen by media, still enjoys the
comfort of a special cell facility despite being uncooperative with
the government in ferreting out the truth.
“I just find it difficult to
swallow the situation right now that she keeps her ground and not
talk, we spend so much for her and yet we are not getting anything
from her. As soon as she opens her mouth, perhaps that’s when we
should secure and protect her,” Escudero said.
He further asked De Lima:
“Did it not cross your mind that placing her in a regular jail, along
with all other accused of crimes, will persuade her to talk and spill
on what she knows about this scam? Maybe if she gets a taste of how
decrepit it is to live in a regular jail, she will crack?”
According Escudero, the
security threats being peddled to keep Napoles in Sta. Rosa are a lame
excuse and cannot justify the special treatment she gets.
“It’s just too much to bear
that she gets to be treated so special with all the works of a special
convoy whenever she goes out of Sta. Rosa. Not even the President
parades on the street with those decoy vehicles, decoy convoy on
regular days,” Escudero pointed out.