EDITORIAL - The price of testimony

Out of P242 million you are accused of stealing, you return P40 million and not only get to keep the rest but also win immunity from prosecution. Not a bad deal for accused pork barrel scam operator Ruby Tuason. But what about for Juan and Juana de la Cruz, who own the P200 million that the socialite allegedly pocketed in kickbacks from the scam?

Government prosecutors have emphasized that the immunity approved for Tuason, whose house alone in Makati’s exclusive Dasmariñas Village must be worth triple or even quadruple the amount she has surrendered, does not cover her indictment for the misuse of the Malampaya Fund.

What Tuason has reportedly offered is testimony directly linking Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, son of her former boss Joseph Estrada, to the diversion of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to personal accounts. That information has been missing from the testimonies of Benhur Luy and the other whistle-blowers in the PDAF scam, and from the voluminous documents submitted to prosecutors by the Commission on Audit.

Prosecutors can always bargain for crucial testimony or work out plea deals with defendants, but the cost must always be weighed carefully. A special prosecutor was dismissed over the plea deal struck with former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, who was allowed to return only half of his estimated P303 million in ill-gotten wealth in exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser offense.

Concerns have been raised over the cost of allowing key players in the PDAF scam to turn state witness. A deal is believed to be in the works with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who now denies that she is the mastermind and says she can identify the real brains. The nation certainly wants this net to catch the biggest fish, but prosecutors must make sure principal operators who want to talk will not get off with a mere slap on the wrist. Even with testimonies and other mitigating factors considered, every individual who stole from the people must get reasonable punishment.