Ruby, Benhur meet, compare notes at NBI

MANILA, Philippines - After four hours of “comparing notes,” main pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy said key details and figures shared by potential state witness Ruby Tuason turned out to match his.

“I’m very happy because she corroborated my statements,” Luy told the media after his meeting with Tuason – their first after a long time – at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila yesterday afternoon.

Luy’s lawyer Levito Baligod said the four-hour meeting was a recollection, corroboration and validation of facts and figures which the two had stated in their separate affidavits.

Tuason, who had confessed to having delivered pork kickbacks to Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, was accompanied by her lawyer Dennis Manalo.

Aside from corroborating Luy’s affidavit, agents of the NBI Special Task Force asked clarificatory questions regarding some differences in the contents of their affidavits, like the amount of money the senators had received.

Baligod said Tuason gave a higher figure compared to what Luy had recorded when he was still working for alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

The two explained that the differences in figures may have been due to the fact that sometimes Napoles would bypass Luy and directly get in touch with Tuason or the senators.

“So far we found no inconsistencies. They complement,” Baligod said.

Manalo said the meeting was cut short due to the lack of time. He said the two camps might meet again, depending on their schedules.

Luy arrived at the NBI-Special Task Force office past 1 p.m. accompanied by his security detail from the Witness Protection Program.

About 20 minutes later, Tuason arrived, also escorted by WPP security. The meeting was held in the pantry.

According to Baligod, the meeting was like a reunion between “long-time friends.”

“They were happy they met again,” he said.

Luy and Tuason last saw each other in 2011. Baligod said their recollection and stories matched.

He said even details like the gates of houses they had been to matched.

Manalo said his client is ready to appear before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on Thursday to testify and even face the lawmakers she had implicated.

“She has been prepared since she executed her sworn statement,” Manalo said.

Baligod also dared the senators to appear and ask “relevant and piercing” questions to test the truthfulness of the whistle-blowers’ statements. “We’re inviting the senators involved to attend the hearing and grill Mrs. Tuason so we can find out who’s telling the truth,” Baligod said in Filipino.

Luy, for his part, said Tuason’s surfacing was answered prayer.

“My prayer is: Lord may you bother their conscience,” Luy told The STAR.

He said he would want Tuason to link the so-called big fish.

“God is really faithful to me because I had asked Him to send witnesses to corroborate my statements. I’m not fabricating stories, I am not inventing stories until now. It’s good news on my part that Ruby came out,” Luy added.

According to Luy, he did not expect Tuason to surface. But of all the chiefs of staff implicated in the controversy, he knew it was Tuason who would likely come forward.

While Luy was happy about Tuason’s decision, some of the whistle-blowers, he said, had initially questioned her intentions. “They asked: Why only now?”

He said he reminded them that it took time to have the courage to come out and testify.

“Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt,” he added.

Napoles as state witness?

Malacañang is apparently keeping an open mind on suggestions that government also utilize Napoles as a state witness against lawmakers involved in the scam.

“We will cross the bridge when we get there. Is there an offer? We don’t even know yet,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda remarked yesterday when asked if Napoles’ testimony would still be crucial to pinning down those involved in the scam.

He clarified “there has been no overtures” yet and he is not aware if there are any.

“We are not in a position to say,” he added, tossing the task to the Department of Justice whose mandate is to evaluate the testimonies of witnesses.

“It’s really up to the DOJ if there is an offer. But I have no knowledge if there is. So it’s hard for me to comment on that,” he explained.

He said it’s also up to Ombudsman investigators to assess the value of Tuason’s statement.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. had given almost the same remarks over the weekend when asked the same question. – With Delon Porcalla