MANILA, Philippines - New witness Ruby Tuason revealed that the counsel of Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo,the husband of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, served as middleman between a mysterious principal in Napoles-led Malampaya Funds scam, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.
In press conference on Friday, De Lima said that Tuason tagged lawyer Jess Santos in her sworn testimony submitted before the Office of the Ombudsman as the one picking up fund deliveries from the residence of Tuason's late sibling.
"You all know who Attorney Jess Santos is, and therefore this is a very important development. Kasi nung una hindi pa kami sigurado kung sino 'yung undisclosed principal," De Lima said, giving a "gist" of Tuason's 15-page affidavit.
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The estimated plundered amount from the scheme is P900 million. Tuason was said to have earned over P242 million in kickbacks from the discretionary funds, the use of which should be the call of the president, supposedly for typhoon victims.
The ongoing investigation on the scam, purportedly led by detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, will be steered by Tuason's disclosures, De Lima said.
"We will pursue this ... 'Yan po ang aming ibi-build ngayon. So finally we have an idea who this principal is," De Lima said. She did not mention Arroyo nor Macapagal Arroyo.
Tuason is the widow of Bobby Tuason, Mr. Arroyo's cousin
Mr. Arroyo, however, had denied any relation with Tuason in an interview in October.
Arroyo claimed that Tuason and her husband were already separated when he first met her, and that accusations tagging him in the scam are "malicious."
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, the Arroyo family's spokesperson, had similarly denied Tuason's links with the family.
"Tuason is the second of four wives of the late Bobby Tuason. They were separated before Arroyo became VP in 1998," he said.
Topacio also pointed out that the Malampaya Funds under President Arroyo only amounted to P40 billion.
The lawyer added that the discretionary funds ballooned to P130 million under the present administration.
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