Ruby brought snacks, not kickbacks – Jinggoy

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Jinggoy Estrada claimed yesterday that potential state witness Ruby Tuason only brought him snacks and not kickbacks that he allegedly received from his pork barrel funds.

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, for his part, did not comment on Tuason’s allegations against him.

“I have said in my interviews that I send either my driver or my security to assist Mrs. Tuason in bringing the snacks to my office,” Estrada said.

Tuason brought sandwiches, mostly in trays, so she needed assistance when she arrived at the Senate premises, Estrada said.

Contradicting Tuason’s allegations, Estrada stressed that “no money or kickback was ever delivered to me by Mrs. Tuason in my residence or in my Senate office or in any other venue.”

During yesterday’s Senate hearing on the pork barrel scam, Tuason identified Estrada’s aides through the Senate yearbook that showed group photos of the senators and their staff members, a copy of which was presented to Tuason during the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation on the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of senators and congressmen.

Based on the pictures, the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms identified Estrada’s aides as Alfredo delos Reyes and a certain Tany.

Estrada said he would allow his ides to testify before the Senate committee once they were invited by the panel. Estrada even gave Tany’s full name as Ferdinand Tanaleon.

Tuason alleged that either of the two Estrada aides would coordinate with the Senate security to allow her access to the basement of the Senate premises.

Estrada said that Tuason had relied on the assistance of pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy in order to answer questions from the senators.

“As seen on live national television, she has to confer with Benhur Luy and constantly referred to her affidavit and other papers to answer the questions from senators. If she is really telling the truth, why can’t she recall such instances from her own memory and not rely from written statement? Mrs. Tuason is merely being fed all these information.” Estrada said.

He said that it is quite obvious from Tuason’s body language and her replies to questions that she had no recollection of the event on her own.

“I sympathize with her when she said that she’d rather die than go to jail. Undoubtedly, a person that desperate will say anything and do everything to avoid going to jail, which to her is worse than death,” Estrada added.

Estrada, who watched the live telecast of the Senate hearing at his house in Quezon City, also debunked Tuason’s statement that she tried to give P5.7 million in kickbacks to him from a supposed P37.5-million project on Sept. 7, 2004.   

He pointed out that he was a newly elected senator in 2004 and it would have been impossible that he had listed projects barely two months in office.

“I was even against the (Arroyo) administration then, so it would have been impossible,” he said.

In a press briefing at his Senate office, Estrada reiterated his call on the Senate leadership to check and immediately make public the closed circuit television footage when Tuason allegedly delivered money to him in the basement parking lot of the Senate building.

“As to her testimony that I directly dealt with Mrs. Janet Napoles regarding my PDAF, that is a total lie. I never had any dealings with Mrs. Napoles, either directly or indirectly, regarding my PDAF,” he said.

Estrada slammed Senate Blue Ribbon committee chair Senator Teofisto Guingona III for showing bias when he handled the Senate probe, especially on his comment that Tuason’s statement is like a three-point shot in a basketball game.

He said the way Guingona handled the hearing could be characterized as an “offensive foul” since he seemed to have pre-judged the case and accepted Tuason’s statements without basis or evidence.

He steamrolled his fellow senators just so he could score points politically, Estrada said in Filipino.

‘Hearsay’

Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo said yesterday attempts to link him to the alleged misuse of the Malampaya funds were based on hearsay.

Arroyo said Tuason herself admitted that she is not on speaking terms with him because of her strained relations with her late husband Carlos “Butch” Tuason, a cousin of the former first gentleman.

He said Mrs. Tuason attempted to establish a link to him by dragging the name of his former spokesman and lawyer Jess Santos.

“As to Jess Santos, it’s double hearsay because she said it’s her brother – who can’t confirm because he’s dead – who said he knows Jess Santos,” Arroyo said.

“But she also has no proof that the money went to Jess Santos. Ruby Tuason did not claim knowing Atty. Jess Santos, it’s her deceased brother who allegedly dealt with him,” he said.

Santos earlier said he was surprised he was mentioned by Tuason, whom he does not know.

His daughter and legal counsel Tricia Santos said her father would attend the Senate hearing once he receives the subpoena.

“Based on what we saw on TV, she (Tuason) was simply making presumptions,” Santos told The STAR.

Malacañang welcomed yesterday the testinomy of Tuason in the Senate investigation into the PDAF or pork barrel scam.

“We hope that this development will shed more light in the people’s quest for truth and justice,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima affirmed the department’s position regarding the provisional admission of Tuason to the Witness Protection Program based on the affidavit that she submitted upon her arrival from the United States last week.

“We note that her testimony amplified the information stated in her affidavit,” Coloma said.

But Coloma said only the Sandiganbayan could decide whether Tuason could be a state witness after going through a process, since she was also one of those charged by the Ombudsman.

Coloma also said the senators themselves would evaluate and judge the quality of Tuason’s testimony insofar as the objectives of their investigation was concerned, which was to eventually craft remedial legislation that would address the ills exposed in connection with the alleged misuse of public funds pertaining to the PDAF.