Reyes aide held for Ortega slay dies in hospital

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—One of the suspects in the Gerry Ortega murder case died on Tuesday in a local hospital after a yearlong bout with a kidney-related illness.

Percival Lecias died at 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 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 Gov. Clara Reyes, wife of murder suspect at large and former Gov. Joel Reyes.

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

Reyes group

Captured in Pasig City while in hiding in June, Lecias was alleged to be part of the group of former Reyes associates who helped the team of hired killers from Pagbilao, Quezon, carry out the plot to kill Ortega.

Lecias allegedly bought the murder weapon used by the gunman who was caught immediately after the shooting.

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

Immigration authorities later said the former governor could now be in Thailand after fleeing to Vietnam under an assumed name and using a fake passport.

President Aquino castigated the Bureau of Immigration for the flight of the Reyes brothers.