In her sworn statement submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Tuason identified a certain Justa Tantoco as the owner of the house in Dasmariñas Village where a total of P11.97 million for Senator Estrada, son of the former First Lady, was supposedly brought.
Tuason, a resident of Dasmariñas Village, added that based on the accounting record of Benhur Luy, principal whistleblower of pork barrel scam, the transaction in Tantoco’s house was “consummated through a certain Matt Ranillo.”
A report on news magazine Asiaweek published in 2000 identified Tantoco as the former First Lady’s chief aide.
The magazine report even portrayed Tuason as someone familiar with the former First Lady’s relationship with her husband, former President Joseph Estrada.
Previous reports published on lifestyle pages of local broadsheets meanwhile portrayed Tantoco as a “civic-oriented” and “charity-oriented” socialite.
A report on “News To Go” also identified Tantoco as a friend and former aide of the former First Lady.
Last December, GMA News Online published a report on how the former First Lady, who also served as senator from 2001 to 2007, also supposedly benefited from transactions with JLN Corporation, Janet Lim-Napoles’s company.
The information was based on payment vouchers submitted during a 2005 legal dispute between actor Matt Ranillo III and JLN Corporation.
The former First Lady has not yet commented on her alleged involvement in the Napoles scam. Senator Estrada, meanwhile, has repeatedly denied receiving kickbacks from the alleged anomaly.
Initial transaction
In her affidavit, Tuason said the initial transaction with Senator Estrada was canceled “for reasons only known” to the lawmaker.
Also, she said Senator Estrada initially agreed to channel P37.5 million from his priority development assistance fund (PDAF) to foundations linked to alleged scam mastermind Napoles.
However, based on Luy’s records, the canceled transaction eventually took place through Ranillo.
Tuason further said she “personally delivered” Estrada’s shares in subsequent transactions involving pork barrel funds, either to the senator’s house in San Juan or to his Senate office.
She, however, said Estrada did not sign any vouchers to prove these transactions.
Tuason likewise said she ended transacting with Estrada for Napoles after the lawmaker and businesswoman personally met each other during the wake of actor Rudy Fernandez in 2008.
Estrada “appeared to have directly dealt with” Napoles after being introduced to each other, Tuason said.
Tuason, Napoles, and Estrada are co-accused in plunder raps filed before the Office of the Ombudsman for their alleged involvement in the pork barrel anomaly. — LBG, GMA News
