Ex-Palawan gov Joel Reyes wanted for killing broadcaster surrenders

Former Palawan Governor Joel T. Reyes INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, who was wanted for his alleged connection with the killing of broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega in 2011, has turned himself in before the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) office in Metro Manila.

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) made the announcement in a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, which it said came from a source it did not name.

According to the task force, it will provide more details later.

Citing reports, PTFoMS said Ortega was a “well-known critic of local government corruption during the term of Reyes.”

In 2023, a regional trial court (RTC) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan issued an arrest warrant against Reyes.

Palawan RTC Branch 52 Presiding Judge Angelo Arizala signed the arrest warrant on July 20, 2023, after the Supreme Court first division released its March 29, 2023, ruling ordering to rearrest Reyes and subsequent resumption of the murder trial.

READ: SC orders rearrest of former Palawan Governor Reyes over Ortega slay

Based on previous reports, Ortega was shot and killed in a thrift store in Barangay San Pedro on January 24, 2011,  after his radio program.