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6enators accused of involvement in the pork barrel scam are fighting back in an unsurprising way they are trying to puncture the credibility of prosecution witnesses

6ocialite 5uby Tuason and director-on-leave ennis Cunanan of the Technology 5esource Center claim to have personal knowledge of the direct involvement of 6enators -inggoy (strada and ong 5evilla and circumstantially, -uan Ponce (nrile in the scam

6o naturally, Tuason and Cunanan are in the crosshairs of the senators The defense tack, as we saw at the 6enate the other day, is to show that Tuason and Cunanan lied about their personal wealth, much of which is supposed to be ill-gotten

A second tack is to show that the administration’s anti-corruption campaign is selective, with only opposition personalities targeted in the prosecution of cases involving the Priority evelopment Assistance )und P A) The subtext is that many others did it; why pick on only a few

The first tack is legal; the second is aimed at winning points in the court of public opinion, which is crucial as the general elections approach

The legal tack may be damaging for the witnesses, but should it exonerate the accused Or should the “provisional state witnesses join the accused in the charge sheet instead

People familiar with the snail’s pace of Philippine justice have no patience to wait for the courts to unearth the whole truth and establish guilt, beyond reasonable doubt, in the P A) scam It could take three decades before final judgment is rendered on these cases

6o people as usual jumped to conclusions about the P A) scandal as soon as it erupted 1ever mind unreliable, bickering witnesses; the Commission on Audit COA , despite some glaring mistakes, has presented documents that should send several senators and congressmen to prison Their punishment should include forfeiture of a substantial chunk if not all of their assets

The revenue police, now going hammer and tongs against doctors, should look into the assets and tax declarations of lawmakers with the same eal

Turning state witness should also not spare Tuason and Cunanan from asset scrutiny 6enator -inggoy must be familiar with the assets of Tuason, who worked for his father at 0alacaxang and was a member of his mother Loi (jercito’s 0A5( 0asa and 5iwasa ni (rap, or 0asses are the 5iches of (rap

The close ties can strengthen Tuason’s testimony, but can also give credence to 6enator -inggoy’s disclosure about her assets and alleged kickbacks not only from the P A) but also from 0alampaya funds

Tuason may have to return much more than the P million she promised prosecutors er home in exclusive asmarixas 9illage alone should be worth more, by 6enator (strada’s reckoning

1ow we’re told that the Anti-0oney Laundering Council is looking into bank accounts under Tuason’s name, apart from joint accounts with a son and her late brother (strada estimates that Tuason received as much as P million in kickbacks from the 0alampaya fund, and says she has accumulated numerous real estate properties in the Philippines and the 8nited 6tates

If she’s allowed to turn state witness, prosecutors should avoid striking a deal worse than the one approved by the Office of the Ombudsman with former military comptroller Carlos Garcia The two-star Army general was allowed to turn over only P million of his estimated P million in ill-gotten wealth and plead guilty to the lesser offense of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering In exchange, the plunder charges against him, his wife Clarita and their three sons would be dropped

The lead prosecutor who worked out the plea bargain, :endell arreras-6ulit, was sacked This is a cautionary tale for prosecutors now considering the testimonies of Tuason and Cunanan to pin down opposition senators Lying about personal benefits they reaped from the P A) and 0alampaya fund scams does not necessarily mean the potential witnesses are also lying about the involvement of senators

irect involvement in a scam can strengthen the testimony of a potential state witness ut the witness will have to come clean on personal benefits he or she enjoyed from involvement in the misuse of public money Those funds belong to the people and must be properly accounted for and returned

If the amount of dirty money is enormous and a person gets to keep the bulk of it in return for his or her testimony, it is rewarding crime This can be a dilemma for an administration that is trying to directly pin down certain senators in the P A) scam

(strada, 5evilla and (nrile aren’t alone in suspecting that the pork barrel scam prosecution is selectively targeting opposition politicians And the use of compromised, lying witnesses including one who is accused of lying even about his academic achievements can reinforce this perception

Lawyers say the COA documents and whistleblower enhur Luy’s testimony should be enough to nail senators for graft-related offenses, although there are debates on whether the evidence is enough to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt for the serious crime of plunder

)or this heavier offense, the government seems to believe it needs the testimonies of individuals like Tuason and Cunanan

In the light of (strada’s accusations against the two potential witnesses, the Tuestion is what price the government is willing to pay for their testimonies

Prosecutors must carefully weigh whether the end will justify the means