Suspect in Gerry Ortega case dies of kidney ailment

NIÑO JESUS ORBETA PHOTO

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY–One of the suspects in the Gerry Ortega murder case died Tuesday morning in a local hospital after a year-long bout with a kidney-related illness.

Percival Lecias died while in confinement at the Palawan Provincial Hospital, said his former employer and board member Rolando Bonoan.

Bonoan said Lecias was suffering from a debilitating kidney illness which was exacerbated by his arrest and detention early this year.

Lecias was among the six persons charged with murder in connection with the January 2011 assassination of Ortega.

Formerly employed at the provincial Capitol, Lecias was the official photographer of Vice Governor Clara Reyes, wife of murder suspect at large and former Governor Joel Reyes.

Lecias whose case is undergoing trial at the Regional Trial Court here was indicted on the set of evidence linking him and several other former associates of Reyes in the plot to kill Ortega.

Captured in Pasig City while in hiding in June, Lecias was alleged to be part of the group of former Reyes associates who assisted the team of hired killers from Pagbilao, Quezon who performed the hit on Ortega.

Lecias reportedly procured the murder weapon used by the triggerman who was caught immediately after the shooting.

Both former governor Reyes and his brother and former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, accused as masterminds in the murder case, have remained in hiding and were reported to have fled the country via Vietnam.