Tuason wants immunity from lawsuit

MANILA – Ruby Tuason, a former aide of ex-president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, is expected to go the Office of the Ombudsman today to seek immunity from the charges involving the alleged misuse of billion pork barrel scam and Malampaya funds. Lawyer Dennis Manalo told Radio dzMM that his client is set to visit the Office of the Ombudsman today to submit her sworn statement. In a separate interview on ANC, Manalo, pressed for details on the contents of the sworn statement, only said that the document is a "lengthy discussion of her involvement" in the P10 billion pork barrel scam involving businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and the Malampaya funds scam. He said Tuason, who is under the Department of Justice's Witness Protection Program, hopes to receive immunity from the charges in exchange for divulging what she knows about the alleged misuse of public funds. Manalo said Tuason, "to the best of her ability and recollection," gave all details pertaining to the the PDAF and Malampaya transactions. "If she will not name persons she have dealt with then that is not a full disclosure," Manalo said, responding to a question whether the statement has implicated lawmakers and government officials previously charged for the alleged misuse of public funds. Manalo said the contents of Tuason's sworn statements may be made public once submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman. But he noted that the Ombudsman "has full control in the disclosure of its records, and it will depend on what kind of treatment the Ombudsman will give in ths particular document." Refusing to comment on the implication of Tuason's statement, Manalo said, "she has been admitted to the WPP of the DOJ and it is the DOJ that was the lead agency that filed these cases in the first place. I would think that tha DOJ would not sabotage its own case." Even though he dodged questions pertaining to the details of Tuason's statement, Manalo said his client is willing to return all the money she received from the supposed transactions. PDAF, Malampaya scams Whistle-blowers have identified Tuason as the one who allegedly received kickbacks for Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, two of the respondents in the plunder and malversation complaints filed by the DOJ in connection with the pork barrel scam. [PLUNDER - http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/16/13/enrile-jinggoy-bong-face-plunder-raps] One whistle-blower, former JLN Corporation finance clerk Marina Sula, told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, that she brought a bag of money to Tuason's house in 2011. An Anti-Money Laundering Council investigation also revealed that P20 million in credit memo transactions was entered to Tuason's Union Bank of the Philippines account in 2008. This was supposedly rebates from the pork barrel funds funneled by Senator Enrile to Napoles' foundations. A former social secretary of Estrada, Tuason has also been linked to the Malampaya fund scam. [MALAMPAYA - www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/03/13/gma-ermita-face-plunder-over-malampaya-fund-misuse] She was charged with plunder along with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, former Budget Secretary Rolando, and several others for allegedly pocketing the funds obtained as royalties from the natural gas project off the seas of Palawan. The complaint said Tuason pocketed P242.775 million in kickbacks "received through bank withdrawals for a still unidentified principal."