Pres. Benigno Aquino III chats with Justice Sec. Leila de Lima at the 8th East Asia Conference on Competition Law and Policy at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City (Malacanang Photo Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE - 12:25 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III announced on Wednesday a P10-million bounty on fugitive businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who is at the center of a P10-billion scam involving government pork barrel funds.
"Ten million pesos ang (is the) reward for information leading to the arrest of Napoles," Aquino said at the sidelines of the 8th East Asia Conference on Competition Law and Policy at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.
He said the reward was only for Napoles, not for her brother Reynald Lim.
The siblings went into hiding two weeks ago after a Makati trial court issued a warrant for their arrest for serious illegal detention charges brought against her Benhur Luy, a former associate who blew the whistle on the pork barrel scam.
"Ang harboring of fugitive, kaso 'yun, ang obstruction of justice, kaso din 'yun ...kung akala nila titigilan ang paghahanap, nagkakamali sila. We're confident,malapit-lapit na natin mahahabol 'yan (Harboring a fugitive is one case, obstruction of justice is another case … if they think we will stop looking for them, they are mistaken. We’re confident we will catch them soon)," Aquino said.
The bounty on Napoles was announced a day after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the siblings had been added to the government’s list of prominent fugitives formerly known as the “Big 5” -- retired Army general Jovito Palparan, former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Mario, former Dinagat congressman Ruben Ecleo, and businessman Delfin Lee -- none of whom have been arrested.
Authorities scrambled Tuesday to check the airports and seaports for Napoles and her brother Reynald Luy Lim after three yachts she reportedly used in the past were discovered missing from the Manila Yacht Club.
Yacht club officials are being asked to shed light on the matter.
The Bureau of Immigration had been on alert for Napoles, tagged as the brains in the alleged scam to divert billions of pork barrel of lawmakers into bogus nongovernment organizations and projects, since a BI lookout order was issued two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, De Lima, at a press conference with Ombudsman Conchita Morales, had assured newsmen that based on latest updates from the immigration office, Napoles and her brother were still in the country.
Immigration OIC: southern backdoor watched
In a press briefing Tuesday, BI Officer-in-Charge Siegfried Mison said the information about the yachts was relayed to him by a “confidential source” last week after the issuance of the warrant of arrest against the Napoles siblings.
“I was informed that Mrs. Napoles has three yachts, parked at the Manila Yacht Club but according to the source wala na mga yacht niya dun,” he said.
However, the BI official did not identify the names of the luxury sea vessel and he is not certain if Napoles owned the missing yachts.
“We confirmed sabi ng source meron daw tatlo dun dati ginagamit niya, hindi lang ako sure kung sa pangalan niya or ginamit niya, na wala na dun sa yacht club,” he added.
Despite this, Mison is confident that Napoles and her brother, Reynald Luy Lim, are still in the country.
He also reported that they are in constant communication with their counterparts in neighboring countries particularly in Indonesia, to help locate the Napoleses, apart from the lookout order to BI employees guarding the country’s seaports.
“An alert order has been issued to the possible backdoor they might use to flee the country. They can use the Balot Island which is near General Santos City, about three hours away to Indonesia and Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi, which is near Malaysia,” Mison explained.
He added, “We have coordinated with Indonesian immigration at the Marore Island, which is near the Philippines. We alerted them by issuing information including pictures of Janet and Reynald.”
Mison noted that they are guarding the southern part of the country since it would be difficult for a sea vessel to cruise through the northern part because of the weather during this season.
The closest to the Philippines is Hong Kong, if one will use the southern part to exit the country, but the monsoon weather won't allow this, too, he said. “Puede ba sa Hong Kong? but not during this weather. Not habagat weather,” the BI official added.
Mison said that they are also coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) as they have jurisdiction on private hangers, which deploys private planes.
“We have requested that they might want to consider giving us access or they could be vigilant and try to find out who are on boat and private planes that would have the capacity to reach foreign destinations,” he said.
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