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The Auditors did not follow up to find out what happened to those visa foils, so yesterday, we asked Heredia about it. He said that he was only the messenger, and delivered them to the Immigration Officer in Charge in San Pedro:

Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
"You know the type of person that I am. My integrity, my transparency. If you know that it's easy to answer. First of all it violated natural justice right, because I will accuse you of anything I have to summon you to answer if indeed what I will put out in the public what evidence is there or I should be able to defend myself at least and to put to the short of that - we are already filing for an injunction against to be put aside and I am sure that already the auditor general is having seconds thoughts about her report. If you listen to the last one, 'I didn't know this, I didn't know the other' and I am sure that at the next one there will be harder questions put to her that at the end of the day that will be put aside or squashed."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Are you prepared such the senate committee asks you to come in?"

Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
"If they call me, I've said it openly with the media I am willing anytime to defend my reputation, my integrity, the transparency that I hold for 8.5 years and that cannot be questioned at no time. I have been servicing my constituency to its fullest and that is why I win so handsomely for the past 4 consecutive elections. I will do I will pick up whatever they have in San Pedro in a seal envelope, deliver to, if its passport, to the person in charge of passports. If it's for immigration purposes, to the director of immigration and it's sealed with accompanied paper which is signed by myself that I received this and then they have to sign that the received it also."

"When it comes to the one with the VISA in particularly, how in the world will I know what is in that envelope if I have no access or I don't open any one of them? It's just to deliver from one end to the other so that the services will be deliver to my constituency at an appropriate time rather than if it's supposed to be 3 months, probably within 3 weeks. So that is all that I care for - its delivering quality service to my constituency."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"It was not right or it is not in good practices for you to have picked up those packages even though you were well meaning, you are not a member of immigration ministry. So you ought not to have touched those."

Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
"But I am the area representative of that area man. As the area representative we are elected to provide service. Remember we are working under parliamentary system whereby we provide services to our people. So when I was in opposition the first term that I won, but not my party, there was the position that the past administration did allow it to happen. So what is new about that of both administration believes that that is so. Why now all of a sudden will it be wrong?"

Our coverage of the Senate hearings resumes on January 4.