Tuason to issue affidavit on Malampaya scam – De Lima

Ruby Tuason. Photo by INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said they are expecting a supplemental affidavit from latest whistleblower Ruby Tuason on the Malampaya fund scam.

“Naghihintay kami ng supplemental affidavit galing kay Mrs. Tuason. We are expecting na magbibigay ng supplemental affidavit tungkol sa Malampaya,” De Lima said in an interview at Inquirer Radio 990 AM on Tuesday.

(We’re waiting and expecting for a supplemental affidavit from Mrs. Tuason about the Malampaya.)

Tuason, a socialite and the former social secretary of then president Joseph Estrada, is the latest whistleblower on the scam involving the funnelling of lawmakers’ discretionary funds into dummy projects for kickbacks allegedly led by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Testifying before a Senate hearing last Thursday, Tuason said she delivered bags of kickbacks to Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and lawyer Gigi Reyes, the former chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

She also mentioned in her affidavit that her late brother Remy Chan may have been involved in the Malampaya scam.

In her sworn affidavit, Tuason said Napoles asked her if she knows of any connections to Malacañang.

Tuason then mentioned this to her brother Chan, who told her he would find a way.

Chan then told Tuason he found lawyer Jess Santos, the lawyer of former first gentlemen Mike Arroyo, as his connection to the Palace.

Her brother then asked permission from Tuason if he may use her house as a place for Santos to pick up bags of money supposedly for a Department of Agrarian Reform project.

“It is only after watching the news about this investigation that I learned that the funding for said DAR project came from the Malampaya funds,” Tuason said in her affidavit.

Her brother did not tell her where the money would go, Tuason added.

The Malampaya fund, sourced from a natural gas field in Palawan, figured in a scam when that at least P900 million of it, intended for agrarian reform beneficiaries, allegedly went to Napoles’ bogus non-government organizations for kickbacks.

Facing plunder charges over the Malampaya scam are former president Gloria Arroyo, as well as Tuason and other officials.

The present Pampanga representative Arroyo was involved in the scam as she issued an executive order authorizing the release of the funds.

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