‘Pork barrel’ scam state witness asks court to reconsider US trip

‘Pork barrel’ scam state witness Ruby Tuason (PNA photo)

MANILA — “Pork barrel” scam state witness, Ruby Tuason, asked the Sandiganbayan on Monday to reconsider its decision to turn down her plea to allow her to travel to the United States for medical treatment.

Sandiganbayan’s 3rd Division Tuason is a co-accused in the PHP900-million Malampaya Fund scam, while jailed businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles is the alleged “brains” behind the PHP10-billion pork barrel and the PHP900-million Malampaya Fund scams.

Tuason initially sought the permission of the anti-graft court to allow her to travel from March 22 to May 5 but she was allowed to leave the Philippines for not more than a month.

In reply, Tuason argued that she has reduced the duration of her planned stay in the US to 32 days from March 22 to April 22.

“With due respect, accused Tuason moves for the reconsideration of the resolution and herein provides the specific details of her accommodation while in the United States of America,” she said in her appeal.

Tuason said she was supposed to stay with her son, Francis Damian Tuason, in Las Vegas from March 22 to 28 and again on April 18 to 20 while waiting for her flight back to the Philippines.

She added she would then stay with her niece, Ana Marie Simonet, from March 28 to April 28 in Los Angeles, California while waiting for her scheduled check-up, tests, and possible operation at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Hospital.

Tuason had said she was diagnosed to be suffering from “corneal decompensation/corneal edema of the right eye secondary to a low endothelial cell count that has decreased below the threshold for normal function”.

She also attached a letter from the Office of the Ombudsman signed by Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval granting her request to travel.

“Accused Tuason humbly manifests that even the Ombudsman found her request to be reasonable and her expression to return to the country sincere and credible,” Tuason said in her appeal.

“Accused Tuason humbly moves that the resolution be reconsidered, considering the difficulty of setting up an appointment with the UCLA eye medical expert and the worsening of her eyesight brought about by her medical condition,” her plea added.

However, the prosecution argued that 32 days is still too long.

It added there are alternative procedures available in the Philippines for Tuason aside from the Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty she had scheduled at UCLA.

The prosecution said the approval of the Ombudsman for Tuason’s trip is misplaced, since it only covers her testimony in the pork barrel scam cases of former Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jose “Jinggoy” P. Estrada.

“The honorable Ombudsman gave her permission considering that, upon consultation with the concerned prosecutors, it was found that accused-movant Tuason will not be needed to testify on the dates in which she intends to travel abroad,” the prosecution said in its opposition.