Arroyo tags claims on Malampaya fund kickbacks libelous, fantastical

Former first gentleman Mike Arroyo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel ‘‘Mike’’ Arroyo on Friday decried reports insinuating he might have received millions of pesos in kickbacks from the alleged misuse of the Malampaya gas fund.

In a statement released through his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, Arroyo said he no longer had any dealings with Ruby Tuason, one of those charged with plunder in connection with the alleged misuse of the gas fund worth P900 million. Tuason is the estranged wife of the late Carlos ‘‘Butch’’ Tuason, a first cousin of Mike Arroyo.

The plunder charge, filed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday, claimed that Tuason received P242 million in kickbacks from the gas fund intended for an ‘‘unknown principal.’’ Charged together with Tuason were former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

“We are almost done with our investigation against the (Tuason) principal and would be charged with plunder later on,” De Lima told the Inquirer. When asked about the identity of Tuason’s principal, De Lima hinted that the person is a relative of Tuason.

In his statement, Arroyo branded as not only malicious and libelous but fantastical and in the realm of fiction allegations that he may have received over P200 million kickbacks from the alleged Malampaya fund scam.

“They hardly even meet. The last time Atty. Arroyo saw Ms. Ruby Tuason was at the wake of his cousin Butch Tuason sometime in June of 2008. Thereafter, the two never had occasion to meet,” Topacio said.

“Thus, any insinuation that Atty. Arroyo may have been the recipient of any funds received by Ms. Tuason from Malampaya or any other source for that matter, is not only malicious and libelous, but fantastical and belongs in the realm of fiction,” he added.

“Secretary De Lima, being the highest government official tasked with the prosecution of crimes and the enforcement of the law, must exercise greater circumspection in making public statements without any iota of proof,” Topacio added.

Tuason is also a respondent in an earlier plunder case in the P10-billion scam involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allegedly engineered by Janet Lim Napoles.

In that case, Tuason was the alleged conduit of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. The two senators, along with Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., were among those charged with plunder.