The Office of the Ombudsman granted immunity to Ruby Tuason in exchange for her testimony in the 10-billion peso pork barrel scam.
According to Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan, Tuason has “personal knowledge” of the involvement of senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile in the pork barrel scam or the misuse of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). This, he said, was the main reason for the grant of immunity.
Tuason is also now officially a state witness in the pork barrel scam case.
But Tuason remains one of the accused in the P900 million Malampaya Fund Scam.
According to the Department of Justice, Tuason’s immunity does not cover this other case which is still being evaluated, and has not yet in fact reached the preliminary investigation stage.
Tuason has already returned the P40 million which she allegedly got as commission from transactions that businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles had with Estrada and Enrile involving their PDAF allocations. Tuason reportedly gets 5 percent in commission for every transaction Napoles had with Estrada and Enrile, the former Senate President through his chief of staff, Atty. Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes.
