Tuason: I’d rather die than go to jail

MANILA, Philippines - With the thought of spending the rest of her life in prison too much to bear, Ruby Tuason said she would “rather die than go to jail.”

The socialite and former social secretary of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada when he was president was close to tears when she discussed before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee yesterday her motive for coming out in the open after months in hiding in the United States to volunteer as a state witness against some of her closest friends, including two senators.

The Department of Justice earlier said her status as a state witness is “provisional” and that it is the Office of the Ombudsman which would eventually decide on her request.

“I pray that if I would not get anything like that, and I would have to go to jail, I pray to the Lord that he take me,” Tuason said when asked by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara about her next move if her offer to turn state witness is turned down.

“I’m serious. I would die if I were to go to jail. I know I will. I’ll probably get a heart attack or high blood (pressure). I am hypertensive,” she said.

Tuason said that in the US, she was alone most of the time and she found a nearby church where she would go every day to reflect on her role in what is now known as the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles in connivance with some lawmakers.

With her application to turn state witness still being reviewed, Tuason technically remains a respondent in the plunder and malversation complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The respondents include Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. Also named respondent is Enrile’s former chief of staff Gigi Reyes who is in hiding abroad.

“I was always crying. I was so ashamed and could not believe what I did. I felt so guilty,” Tuason said in Filipino.

“I actually even felt like Judas Iscariot. This was what Judas Iscariot must have felt for what he did. I told myself that I could no longer go on like this. I would like to do something,” she added.

She said disturbing thoughts raced through her mind and a lot of them had to do with her worries about how everyone – including her family and loved ones – would view her.

“I don’t want to die with 80 million Filipinos hating me. I don’t want to die with my grandchildren being ashamed of me, so I felt I had to do something and I have to correct my mistake and I cannot possibly right a wrong with another wrong,” Tuason said.

Before she made the decision to return to the country and offer herself as state witness, Tuason said she received a call from Estrada who apprised her of the situation. She took the occasion to ask him for help, but the senator said he could not help her.

Tuason also told the committee, chaired by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, that she would return at least P40 million that she had amassed from her dealings with Napoles. She said she would have to sell her house to make good her promise to return the money. “It’s a very small price to pay,” she said.

Not clueless

Tuason also told the committee that Estrada was fully aware of how his pork allocation – officially called Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) – was being used by Napoles and that there could be no doubt that he was getting kickbacks from the projects.

Tuason said that she had personally handed over cash to Estrada in different places – in his office at the Senate, at the Zirkoh comedy bar in San Juan, and at either of his two houses in Greenhills and in Corinthian Garden.

Tuason said it was she who introduced the senator to Napoles.

As she indicated in her affidavit, Tuason said Estrada initially did not want to see Napoles, but changed his mind after he was told that he would get a 40 percent commission for projects the businesswoman would implement.

He later agreed to fund a project with P37.5 million of his PDAF.

Estrada was provided P5.7 million by Napoles as his commission for the transaction. But for reasons unknown to her, Tuason said the senator returned the money.

Napoles’ cousin and former employee-turned whistle-blower Benhur Luy, who was also at yesterday’s hearing, said he remembered Tuason giving back the money to them.

But Tuason said she recalled two particular occasions when she delivered money to Estrada in his office and that in both instances, two aides of the senator escorted her from the basement parking area, all the way up to the sixth floor where his office is located.

Tuason also recalled that she would place the money inside her bag if the amount was just P1 million to P2 million. One time she had to use a bigger bag with rollers because she was delivering between P8 million to P10 million.

On that occasion, Tuason said she personally delivered the money to Estrada in his private room in his office.

There was also a time when Estrada called her up because he needed some money.

Tuason said that she, Napoles and her husband Jimmy Napoles dropped off the bag containing P1 million at the Zirkoh comedy bar on Wilson St. near Ortigas Ave. in San Juan.

Based on records of Luy, a total of P9 million in kickbacks was delivered to Estrada by Tuason from March to October 2008.

Tuason said that to her knowledge, the actual amounts were higher because in some instances, it was Napoles herself who handed her the money intended for Estrada.

Aides identified

Tuason identified Estrada’s two security aides in the Senate yearbook that showed group photos of the senators and their staff members, a copy of which was presented to Tuason during the hearing.

Based on the pictures, the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms identified them as Alfredo delos Reyes and a certain Tany.  The senator gave Tany’s full name as Ferdinand Tanaleon.

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

“In my opinion, it is a very, very strong evidence. To top it all, she even pointed out the faces of two of the personnel, the staff of Sen. Estrada, those who accompanied her during her visits here,” Guingona said after the hearing.

“What are these assertions? Details… the faces of security personnel,” Guingona said.

Sen. Grace Poe, for her part, asked the committee to invite Dennis Cunanan, head of the Technology Livelihood Resource Center, which was also used as conduit in anomalous pork barrel projects.

Poe also batted for the need to subject to lifestyle checks government officials tagged by witnesses in the pork barrel scam.

Tuason also insisted she was the one who personally introduced Napoles to Estrada in 2008 and not actress Lorna Tolentino, contrary to the senator’s claims.

She recalled that they were at the wake of actor Rudy Fernandez in 2008 when she introduced Estrada to Napoles.

A few days after that meeting, Tuason said Estrada asked her for  Napoles’ number.

“I gave it and before I knew it, she (Napoles) wasn’t doing business with me anymore. She went to him directly,” Tuason said.

Tuason said that both Napoles and Luy would later deny that they were dealing with Estrada directly.

For every successful transaction undertaken by Napoles with Estrada using his PDAF, Tuason said she would receive a commission of five percent or less.

Tuason said that she often saw Napoles at parties hosted by Estrada and that she could tell in their demeanor they were close.

She said there were times when she would see Napoles seated next to Estrada’s wife Precy during parties and that she had even seen the two having dinner together at the Manila Polo Club.

Tuason also recalled attending a party in a building owned by Estrada’s father where she saw Napoles huddled with the senator in the smoking area.

“That was when I confirmed that they were transacting directly. That’s her style,” she said.

Tuason said Napoles would again drop her as contact with Enrile when she introduced the businesswoman to Reyes. She said Napoles’ excuse for terminating her dealings with her was that the project did not push through.

Tuason said the businesswoman had even demanded the return of commissions. “She is something else,” Tuason said, referring to Napoles’ shrewd ways. –  Christina Mendez