Lawyer warns of more media killings after DoJ ruling

MANILA, Philippines—The decision of the Department of Justice to drop the charges against former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and four others in the murder of broadcaster and environment activist Gerry Ortega might abet more media killings in the country, a lawyer of the victim’s family said Wednesday.

Harry Roque said the decision of the three-man DoJ panel to throw out the charges against Reyes and his associates in connection with the January 24 killing of Ortega was unacceptable.

The panel’s decision might only “encourage more media killings and further promote the culture of impunity that already exists in the country,” Roque said in a statement, noting that the DoJ ruling was issued a day after another broadcaster fell victim to an assassin’s bullets in Camarines Sur.

“If it is not yet obvious by now, these developments highlight the fact that the Filipino journalist is under attack. When will our government learn to protect them?” Roque said.

Roque issued the statement about the same time that Reyes hailed the dismissal of the charges against him, saying they had been orchestrated by his political enemies.

According to Roque, Ortega’s widow Patria will file a motion asking the DoJ to reconsider its June 8 ruling, which was released to the media on Tuesday.

“We refuse to accept a system that helps perpetrate these killings through inaction,” Roque said.

The  DoJ  panel that conducted a preliminary investigation of the charges in the Ortega killing said it dropped the murder complaint against Reyes, his brother Mayor Marjo Reyes of Coron, Palawan, former Marinduque Governor Jose Antonio Carreon, former Palawan administrator Romeo Serratubias, Arturo Regalado and Percival Lecias, for insufficiency of evidence.

The panel was headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edwin Dayog with Assistant State Prosecutor Bryan Jacinto Cacha and Prosecution Attorney John Benedict Medina as members.

In his extra-judicial confession, Rodolfo “Bumar” Edrad Jr., Reyes’ former security aide, implicated his ex-boss as the mastermind in the murder.

Edrad said he contacted Marlon Recamata, the confessed gunman, to kill Ortega purportedly on orders from Reyes.

But the panel said Edrad’s admission of his participation in the killing was not enough to warrant the filing of a murder charge against Reyes et al.

“Rendering the uncorroborated declarations of Edrad even more unreliable is the fact that a number of them contradict… statements in the extra-judicial of his own cohorts and are belied by the facts on record,” the panel said.

However, the panel of prosecutors found probable cause to indict Edrad, Armando Noel, Dennis Aranas and Arwin Arandia for murder. The alleged gunman was charged with murder much earlier.

In a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Reyes said the allegations linking him to the January 24 killing of Ortega were “orchestrated and financed by my political opponents.”

“It is with a great sense of humility and relief that I accept news of the dismissal of the murder charges against me and my brother, Coron Mayor Marjo Reyes,” the former governor said. “Indeed, as they say, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly well.”

Reyes said the accusations hurled against him had gravely affected members of his family, including his 89-year-old father.

“Now that the truth has come out, we wish to express our gratitude to all the people who have stood beside us in the hour of our most difficult trial so far, and who have never abandoned us even when the personal attacks against us were at their worst,” he said.

Reyes’ lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, also welcomed the DoJ ruling, saying it was “a demonstration of how the illuminating light of the truth can cut through the darkest of lies.”

“To those who tried to twist the justice system for their own selfish interests, the day of reckoning shall come,” Topacio said.