Gunman in Ortega slay gets life term
By Redempto D. Anda
The confessed triggerman of slain Palawan broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega was found guilty Tuesday by the Puerto Princesa Regional Trial Court and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The confessed triggerman of slain Palawan broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega was found guilty Tuesday by the Puerto Princesa Regional Trial Court and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Discounting earlier documented reports that fugitive Palawan former governor Joel Reyes and his brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, had fled abroad using fake passports, police investigators claim that the two escaped suspects are still very much around in the country.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Friday said the government will continue to regard former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother Mario as fugitives for as long as the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court does not revoke the arrest warrants it issued against two for being suspects in the murder of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
Former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes through his counsel has asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to inhibit from handling the petition regarding the case against him and his brother on the death of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima branded as premature the bid of lawyers of former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother Coron Mayor Mario Reyes to lift the arrest warrant issued against them by the Palawan Regional Trial Court.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday insisted she did nothing wrong when she created a second panel at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reinvestigate the 2011 killing of broadcaster Gerry Ortega. That panel recommended the filing of murder charges against former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother Mario Reyes.
Grave abuse of discretion.
The Court of Appeals decision upholding a petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes does not clear him of murder, the lawyer for Gerry Ortega’s family said.
The Court of Appeals nullified the body created to investigate the involvement of former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes in the death of broadcaster Gerry Ortega and set aside its ruling finding probable cause to charge Reyes and his brother of murder.
The lawyers of former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, will ask the Court of Appeals to issue a clear order quashing the arrest warrants against the Reyes brothers in connection with the murder of Palawan environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
The P2-million reward each for brothers Joel and Mario Reyes, wanted for the murder of environment advocate and broadcaster Gerry Ortega, is still in effect, according to the lawyer of the family of the murder victim.
Don’t be scared of me, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told the Court of Appeals (CA) on Wednesday, after the court invalidated the second panel she created to re-investigate the murder of environmentalist and radio personality, Dr. Gerry Ortega, in Palawan in 2011, after the court find her action “scary.”
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered police and special so-called “cracker teams” to intensify the manhunt for the “Big Five” fugitives even as she admitted that the trail for the country’s most-wanted fugitives had grown cold.
