De Lima warns: Official ‘Napolist’ does not represent truth yet

"What has been done is done."

This was the reaction of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to Senator Teofisto Guingona III's decision to release to the public the official, duly-executed "Napolist," despite her persistent appeal to keep it confidential for now.

In a statement released on Friday, De Lima also stressed that without the accompanying complete and extended affidavit of alleged pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, the truthfulness of the list hangs in the balance.

"The list does not represent the truth per se. It would take further investigation and painstaking collection of evidence—as what was done before complaints were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman—before we arrive at the truth," said De Lima.

De Lima had long been silent on the details of both the controversial list and Napoles' testimony itself, saying that proper vetting and verification should be completed first to ensure the veracity of the embattled businesswoman's allegations about the scam.

Napoles as unexpected source?

"As I have said before, the truth can be revealed in unexpected ways and even from unexpected sources. It is our job in the DOJ to ferret it out, even if we have to wade through rivers of lies and scale seemingly impenetrable walls of silence," De Lima said.

De Lima admitted she had hoped that Guingona's "considerations of prudence" would have persuaded him to exercise "patience" in waiting for Napoles' completed affidavit before releasing it along with the list to the public.

Napoles submitted last Tuesday to De Lima an initial but signed and duly executed affidavit on the pork barrel scam, which contained narrations regarding the involvement of some people including Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. who are already facing plunder charges, as well as five other lawmakers.

De Lima said she expects Napoles' camp to finish "within a few days" an "extended" affidavit that would already contain a "narrative and details" on all the remaining individuals said to be involved in the multi-billion-peso government fund scam.