MANILA, Philippines—Disappointed over the dropping by state prosecutors of murder charges against former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, the widow of slain broadcaster and environmentalist Gerry Ortega on Friday appealed to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima not to inhibit herself from the case.
The media community in Palawan, in a protest rally on Tuesday condemning the Department of Justice (DoJ) decision, had also challenged De Lima to step into the fray.
De Lima had inhibited herself from the case because she used to be the election lawyer of the former governor, whom the Ortega family suspects masterminded the killing of the journalist five months ago.
“She should show that she can decide fairly. That she is really fair. Because who would do that job? She was given a responsibility and she should be ready to take that responsibility. It will define her as a person,” Patty Ortega told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.
Ortega said her lawyers were still studying whether or not to file a motion for reconsideration on the ruling of a Justice Department panel of prosecutors that dismissed the murder complaint she had filed.
In a resolution dated June 8, the DoJ panel said the evidence and testimonies of witnesses presented by the prosecution were “insufficient to establish probable cause against” Reyes, former Marinduque Gov. Jose Carreon, former Palawan provincial administrator Romeo Serratubias, Mayor Mario Reyes of Coron, Palawan, and Reyes’ former aides Arturo Regalado and Percival Lecias.
But the panel approved the filing of a criminal case against Reyes’ former security aide Rodolfo “Bumar” Edrad Jr., Armando Noel, Dennis Aranas and Arwin Arandia.
The justice secretary ultimately rules on motions for reconsideration filed by parties are unhappy with the decisions of the state prosecutors.
“I am now seriously considering that challenge,” De Lima said in a text message to the INQUIRER when sought for comment.
“I thought that my exercise of delicadeza through inhibition was an act of fairness and something that would be appreciated by the Ortegas. If I didn’t inhibit and the outcome of the preliminary investigation was, as it turned out, the dismissal of the complaint, that would have been a big issue thrown at me. So I hope they understand that,” De Lima said.
But Ortega said it was “okay” even if De Lima, former head of the Commission on Human Rights, was the former lawyer of Reyes.
“If you believe it [to be] the truth, it doesn’t matter whatever relations you have had with a person, you will stick to the truth,” Ortega said.
On Monday, Ortega and activist priest Robert Reyes will lead a “run for justice” for the slain journalist from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines office in Intramuros to the Justice Department on Padre Faura Street in Manila.
Father Reyes told the Inquirer in a separate interview that the Ortegas and their supporters were now “shifting the fight to public opinion and ethics.”
In the protest rally held Tuesday in Puerto Princesa City, over 200 journalists and supporters slammed the “precipitate and biased resolution” that cleared Reyes.
Reyes had been the subject of Ortega’s criticism, particularly over the handling of the revenues from Palawan’s share of natural gas from Malampaya and logging and mining operations.