Other ‘pork’ informants urged to come forward

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is calling on other witnesses in the pork barrel fund scam to come out and testify.

Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government is exerting all effort to give justice to Filipinos whose hard-earned taxes have been misused allegedly by lawmakers involved in the scam.

“If there is anyone who has additional information that can corroborate the testimonies of the whistle-blowers, please do so to help in the prosecution of the case,” Coloma said.

He said any information given to the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be assessed and verified, and the government will determine if an informant can be admitted into the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

Coloma made the statement after Ruby Tuason, a former social secretary of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, tagged Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile as principal players in the pork barrel scam.

Tuason surfaced Friday before the DOJ and issued a sworn statement corroborating the testimony of star witness Benhur Luy.

“The DOJ will determine if there is sufficient basis or give them consideration to join the WPP or utilize them as a state witness,” Coloma explained.

The justice department, under the leadership of Secretary Leila de Lima, will do whatever is necessary and take all the right steps toward ensuring that justice will be achieved on the allegations of misuse of public funds, Coloma said.

When asked if the call for potential witnesses includes alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, Coloma said he has already issued the statement on such possibility.

“I already issued a statement on that. Do I have to repeat it,” he said in his regular weekend interview over state-run dzRB, which may also imply that Napoles can indeed be utilized as state witness.

In the same radio interview, Coloma repeated his statement in calling on all witnesses to come out and testify.

As regards Vice President Jejomar Binay’s statement that Tuason’s statements were nothing but a “dud,” Coloma said it was up to the investigators and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to appreciate the value of such testimony.