Tuason admits seeking help from a senator when she was in US

Ruby Tuason narrates how she is able to pass through the Senate without her bags being checked. PHOTO by Kristine Sabillo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Ruby Tuason admitted at a Senate hearing on Thursday that she asked for financial assistance from  a senator who had  turned down her request while she was in hiding in the US.

“Yes I asked him what he can do to help me,” Tuason said in her opening statement before her testimony at the blue ribbon  committee. She was apparently referring to Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada who made a similar statement last week.

But Tuason, a former aide of former president and now Mayor Joseph Estrada, said her request for assistance was turned down by the senator.

At the start of her statement, Tuason defended her decision to turn state witness despite criticism that she just wanted to escape imprisonment.

“Having already left the country, and assuming my intentions were merely to escape time in prison, I would have easily done so by not returning home…”  Tuason said.

But she decided to return home, she said, to correct her mistakes.

“If I were the extortionist…why would I offer to return the assets (I) acquired  from  Napoles,”  she said, referring to the alleged scam mastermind,  Janet Lim-Napoles.

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