SC junks ex Palawan guv petition, orders rearrest for murder

FILE: Facade of Supreme Court of the Philippines (PNA photo)

MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the rearrest of former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, denying his petition that questioned his murder case due to lack of evidence.

Reyes was indicted for the 2011 killing of broadcaster Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega, a known critic of Reyes’ mining activities and alleged corruption in the province.

He and his brother and co-accused, former Coron mayor Mario Reyes, were arrested in Thailand in 2015.

In the SC’s eight-page resolution dated March 29 but published online Sunday, the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52 is ordered to “cause the immediate re-arrest and detention ” of Reyes and likewise ordered the court “to continue with the (criminal) proceedings with utmost dispatch.”

“(T)he record thus far shows that the RTC acted well within its jurisdiction. This, in turn, belies petitioner’s claim that the CA committed reversible error in sustaining the trial court’s decision to proceed with the criminal trial,” the SC said.

In a statement, Ortega’s family said it “welcomes the latest development to rearrest former Governor Joel Reyes. Our family is thankful that the Supreme Court sided with truth and justice. We have long hoped and prayed for the trial to continue. This fair decision restores our faith that, one day, we will find justice.”

Alleged gunman Marlon Recamata admitted killing Ortega and implicated three others — Rodolfo Edrad, Dennis Aranas, and Armando Noel Jr.

Ortega’s wife later filed an affidavit complaint, implicating Reyes as the alleged mastermind in her husband’s murder.

The Department of Justice in 2012 cited nearly 50 text messages between Reyes and Edrad, from December 2010 to January 2011.

While out of the country on the day of the attack, the DOJ noted that Reyes’ phone sent out 16 messages to Edrad’s phone

The firearm recovered from the gunman was subsequently traced to have been formerly registered to a former Palawan provincial administrator, who claimed he had sold the weapon.

In 2018, the Reyes brothers won their appeal before the CA, which ordered the Palawan RTC Branch 52 to drop the charges.

The CA then reversed itself in 2019 and ordered the Palawan court to resume trial, saying there were not enough grounds to drop the charges.