What drives Ruby Tuason?

MANILA, Philippines – She left the country a socialite and came back a state witness.

Just who exactly is Ruby Tuason, and what role did she play in what many call institutionalized corruption?

Natashya Gutierrez reports.

 

Mostly calm and collected, sometimes emotional, but mostly willing to talk , middleman turned whistleblower Ruby Tuason faces the Senate and shares what she knows about the pork barrel scam.

Her testimony is as intriguing as she is.

Filipinos get a closer look into the scam’s intricacies and into the woman who is a key witness to the country’s biggest corruption scandal.

Tuason, a socialite, is tough as nails. She was married to the late Butch Tuason, the first cousin of former first gentleman Mike Arroyo. When she caught him cheating on her, she fought back, much like she is doing now.

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: When I caught my husband I burned all his clothes, all his things, I burned it all. All his hundred something Italian shoes, all his suits, everything! Because of what I did, they were so shocked, I also myself was shocked because I never did that before.

TG GUINGONA, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: Delikado ka pala magalit. (You’re not someone to be crossed.)

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: Buti nga hindi siya ang sinunog ko. (He’s lucky I didn’t burn him.)

Tuason was the go-between of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and Sen Jinggoy Estrada. She personally delivered cash to Estrada, kickbacks worth millions of pesos which he allegedly received for channeling his Priority Development Assistance Fund to Napoles’ fake non- organizations. Tuason considered Estrada a friend. So when the scam broke out she asked him for help.

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: Hindi ako humingi ng pera sa kanya. Humingi ako ng tulong. Siguro suporta or what. (I never asked Jinggoy for money but I asked him for help. Support, maybe.) I wanted to see how far he would go.After all i only got a small commission he got the bulk.

GRACE POE, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: So ano pong tulong ang ninanais ninyong ibigay sa inyo? What type of help?

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: At least maalalayan ako for a lawyer, mga ganun. (At least help me with a lawyer.)

She says she now knows her biggest mistake.

GRACE POE, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: Noong kayo’y nagpapakilala ng mga tao, may komisyon doon. Siguro matagal na rin na kalakaran sa gobyerno iyan. Alam ninyo na may anomalya kahit papano? (When you were linking people together, there was commission. This must have been going on for a long time in the government so you must have known there was an anomaly.)

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: My problem is I sacrificed my values for friendship.

Tuason left the country in August after she was implicated in the Napoles scam. She admits she earned commission for being a middleman. She came back to the country in February to come clean.

The keeper of secrets for powerful men and the beneficiary of P40 million in corruption money, Tuason’s explains why she decided to tell-all.

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: My grandchildren would always call me, Skype. And then they’d call me and ask me, when are you coming home? After a while of talking to them and I was really missing them, I was feeling so guilty, I actually felt like I was Judas Iscariot. I said this is how Judas Iscariot must have felt with what he did, so I said,” hindi ko na kaya ito.” (I can’t do this.) I don’t want to die with 80 million Filipinos hating me. I don’t want to die with my grandchildren being ashamed of me. So I felt I had to do something, I had to correct my mistake, I cannot correct my wrong with another wrong.

Tuason is a provisional state witness for now until the Ombudsman evaluates the weight of her testimony.

Blunt and honest with both the Senate and herself, she says she will not survive jail.

RUBY TUASON, PORK BARREL SCAM WITNESS: It’s okay. I’d rather die. I know I’ll die, get a heart attack or high blood. I am hypertensive.

She may not have to worry.

Senators praise her courage for coming forward and most senators agree her testimony is crucial since she is the first to admit she personally delivered money to a lawmaker.

Loyal friend, vengeful ex-wife, loving grandmother. These are the many faces of Ruby Tuason. But by coming forward she wants only to be remembered by history and the country by one identity: remorseful witness. 
Natashya Gutierrez, Rappler, Manila. -– Rappler.com