The JLN pork barrel scandal

Markham · Oct 10, 2013

Just released by ABS-CBN News:

ABS-CBN News has uncovered 2 US properties linked to the former social secretary of ex-President Joseph Estrada, Ruby Tuason, who is one of those charged with plunder over the Malampaya Fund scam.

Tuason allegedly got the biggest kickback at P242 million.

Two homes linked to her turned up after ABS-CBN searched for Tuason's possible real estate properties in the United States.

One is a townhouse unit at the Las Vegas Country Club, which is a private golf course community located just a few feet away from the former Las Vegas Hilton.

Tuason bought the unit in November 2008 in cash for $147,000 -- or over P6.3 million.

Fast forward to September 2013, the deed of title was transferred to Francis Tuason, who is Ruby's son with the late Butch Tuason of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Documents state that the mailing address used to buy the townhouse unit at the Las Vegas Country Club is that of another home registered under Henry Joseph Chan Laygo, who is a son of Ruby from her first husband.

Both properties are in guard-gated communities.

ABS-CBN tried to get in touch with the Tuasons through email and phone calls to their Las Vegas numbers but they could not be reached.

Tuason is not yet considered a fugitive, as she has yet to be formally charged in court.

However, immigration lawyer Rex Velasquez said corruption is an extraditable offense, and Tuason can be extradited to the Philippines after a warrant is issued for her arrest.

"If the person has committed an extraditable offense, it doesn't matter if the person is a US citizen, greencard holder, or here on a visa," Velasquez said. "The obligation of this treaty is blind to the status of the person."

Tuason's exact whereabouts remain unknown.
Click to expand...

Markham · Oct 10, 2013

A new twist:

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has urged whistleblowers to pinpoint cases of corruption in the judiciary amid talks of the presence of a fixer tagged only as “Ma’am Arlene”.

“I assure you that if the cases filed are serious and supported by evidence, the justices of the Supreme Court will see to it that the axe will fall on whoever deserves it, even if it falls close to us,” Sereno said during her recent speech before the Philippine Bar Association (PBA).

Columnist Jarius Bondoc, in his opinion piece in the Philippine Star on Monday, said the judiciary has its own version of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

The person, known only as “Ma’am Arlene”, supposedly “throws birthday bashes for Appellate Court justices and trial court judges, and bankrolls their family junkets abroad. She is the magistrates’ go-to girl if they need to give an offspring an expensive graduation or wedding gift. She makes them dependent on her, for a reason.”
Click to expand...

More from ABS-CBN News here.

Methersgate · Oct 23, 2013

Obliged to Dr Holmes for this one:

Log in

The JLN pork barrel scandal

Markham Guest

Markham Guest

Methersgate Well-Known Member Lifetime Member

Share This Page