NABBED In this September 2015 photo, former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes is escorted by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group personnel on his return to the Philippines following his arrest in Thailand. —Grig C. Montegrande
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, PALAWAN, Philippines — Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes, under hospital arrest for his alleged role in the 2011 slay of broadcast journalist Gerardo Ortega, did not file any certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 elections amid earlier reports that he would again seek the province’s top post despite his legal trouble.
Reyes’ longtime confidante, Rolando “Boy” Bonoan Jr., also a former provincial board member, made the announcement.
“Governor Reyes and yours truly decided that we will not join the 2025 elections. This is after a careful study and consultation,” Bonoan said in his message to reporters just a few minutes before the filing of COC closed at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
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Bonoan said he and Reyes “are not totally closing” themselves away from politics and their “desire to once again serve our constituents in the province of Palawan.”
Bonoan further said that he would still visit different towns in the province to consult with residents on choosing whom among the political aspirants they should endorse and support in next year’s elections.
Reyes surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in November last year for his alleged involvement in Ortega’s murder.
Ortega, an environmental journalist known for his critical reporting on Reyes, and issues related to mining and the alleged misuse of billions of pesos of the province’s share from the Malampaya gas project, was shot and killed in San Pedro Village here on Jan. 24, 2011.
Gunman Marlon Recamata and Rodolfo “Bumar” Edrad, who were both arrested and sentenced in 2011, implicated Reyes and his brother Mario for allegedly orchestrating Ortega’s killing.
Flight
In 2012, Reyes and his brother fled the country after the Department of Justice’s second panel indicted him for masterminding the crime. They were arrested in 2015 in Phuket, Thailand, and extradited to the Philippines.
After three years of detention, Reyes was released in 2018 when the Court of Appeals (CA) voided the murder charges against him.
But two years later, the charges were reintroduced by new justices in the CA.
Reyes went into hiding after Presiding Judge Angelo Arizala of Palawan Regional Trial Court Branch 52 issued an arrest warrant against him in 2023, following the Supreme Court ruling that ordered his rearrest and murder trial’s resumption.