Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Philippines — After conflicting resolutions by state prosecutors and the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court has ordered the rearrest of former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes for the 2011 killing of broadcaster Dr. Gerardo Ortega.
In its March 29 decision, the first division of the Supreme Court also ordered the Palawan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52 to resume Reyes’ trial for Ortega’s murder (Criminal Case No. 26839), which has dragged on for 12 years.
In a statement to the Inquirer, Ortega’s family welcomed the high court’s ruling to re-arrest the former governor and resume his trial.
“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,” said Ortega’s oldest daughter Mika.
Ortega was killed here on January 24, 2011, and the gunman, identified as Marlon Recamata, was captured a few days later, pleaded guilty, and was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment by Judge Angelo Arizala of RTC Branch 52.
Masterminds
One of Reyes’ aides, Rodolfo Edrad, also surrendered and accused the former governor, along with his brother Mario, who was then mayor of Coron town, of being the masterminds of the killing. But the brothers later disappeared.
In 2015, the Reyes brothers were arrested in Phuket, Thailand, and only then did the murder trial start.
The trial was suspended when the Reyes brothers appealed the charges against them, saying prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) found no evidence against them.
But another panel of DOJ prosecutors claimed that there was indeed sufficient proof that the Reyes brothers were involved in the Ortega killing.
Conflicting resolutions
The Reyes brothers appealed the conflicting resolutions before the Court of Appeals (CA). Justice Normandie Pizarro ruled in favor of the Reyeses and ordered the Palawan RTC Branch 52 to drop the charges in 2018 because of the first DOJ resolution.
However, the CA reversed itself in 2019 and ordered the Palawan court to resume trial, saying there were not enough grounds to drop the charges because the case had not even been tried in the lower court.
The latest SC ruling agreed with the CA’s 2019 ruling that the conflicting resolutions dealt with evidence that are best examined in a trial.
However, the Reyes brothers have not been seen since last year’s election when the former governor was allowed to run although he had already been convicted of corruption in an unrelated case.
The Inquirer tried to get in touch with Reyes and his camp on Saturday for their comments, but his phone number and that of his spokesperson, Ronaldo Bonoan Jr., could not be reached. His brother Mario was also unreachable.
The candidacy of Reyes was also declared null and void in January of this year, months after the conclusion of the 2022 national and local elections.
His certificate of candidacy was filed at the Commission on Elections office in this city by Bonoan, who was also his running mate.