THE alleged brain of the P10-billion pork barrel scam in the Philippines went into hiding a day before a warrant of arrest was issued against her by a regional trial court in Pasig City.
The issuance of the arrest warrant against Janet Lim-Napoles and her brother stemmed from a kidnapping case with illegal detention filed by Benhur Luy, one of her trusted employees and pork barrel scam whistleblower. Luy is now under the government’s witness protection program.
However, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in a televised press briefing on Tuesday said they have not yet received reports or indications that Napoles and her brother have already fled to other countries.
"All existing leads gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation point to the fact that they are still here but they are hiding," De Lima said during the press briefing of the Inter-Agency Graft Coordinating Council (IAGCC).
The now fugitive Napoles has been accused of setting up bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) that received lawmakers' pork barrel amounting to P10 billion in the past 10 years.
The Commission on Audit (COA) last week reported some NGOs linked to Napoles received the pork barrel of lawmakers from 2007 to 2009.
The COA report also confirmed that 10 Napoles NGOs got P2 billion pork barrel of the lawmakers.
Napoles and her brother remain at large, prompting authorities to urge thepublic to carry out a "citizen's arrest" of the embattled businesswoman.
De Lima had said all the regional and field offices of the NBI have been alerted to help the agency's special teams tasked for Napoles' arrest.
The issuance of the arrest warrant against Janet Lim-Napoles and her brother stemmed from a kidnapping case with illegal detention filed by Benhur Luy, one of her trusted employees and pork barrel scam whistleblower. Luy is now under the government’s witness protection program.
However, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in a televised press briefing on Tuesday said they have not yet received reports or indications that Napoles and her brother have already fled to other countries.
"All existing leads gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation point to the fact that they are still here but they are hiding," De Lima said during the press briefing of the Inter-Agency Graft Coordinating Council (IAGCC).
The now fugitive Napoles has been accused of setting up bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) that received lawmakers' pork barrel amounting to P10 billion in the past 10 years.
The Commission on Audit (COA) last week reported some NGOs linked to Napoles received the pork barrel of lawmakers from 2007 to 2009.
The COA report also confirmed that 10 Napoles NGOs got P2 billion pork barrel of the lawmakers.
Napoles and her brother remain at large, prompting authorities to urge thepublic to carry out a "citizen's arrest" of the embattled businesswoman.
De Lima had said all the regional and field offices of the NBI have been alerted to help the agency's special teams tasked for Napoles' arrest.