Enrile’s ex-chief aide Reyes files motion in Sandigan to suspend arrest order

Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes. PHOTO BY ALEX VAN HAGEN/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Not long after her former boss Senator Juan Ponce Enrile filed a motion for bail, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes filed a motion on Friday for the Sandiganbayan to suspend its proceedings and defer the issuance of a warrant of arrest.

In a 10-page urgent motion, Reyes said the anti-graft court should just wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on her plea for a temporary restraining order against the warrant, as well as a writ of preliminary injunction.

Reyes, the former chief of staff of Enrile and a co-accused in the case, is asking the court to defer its proceedings on the plunder charges against her so as not to prejudice the high tribunal’s pending decision on her motions.

“As the Supreme Court has required the Ombudsman to comment on the petition within 10 days from receipt of the order before ruling on accused application’s for injunctive relief, and three days  have already elapsed since then, no substantial delay or prejudice will be caused by suspending proceedings against the accused in the meantime,” the motion read.

Reyes’ camp also said suspending the proceedings would save the court some time and resources “should the Supreme Court find that the Ombudsman violated the accused’s constitutional rights and annul the assailed resolutions issued by the Ombudsman.”

Reyes filed her motion just moments after Senator Enrile filed an omnibus motion asking the court to allow him to post bail on his plunder charges. Plunder is a non-bailable offense.

The senator said he should be allowed to post bail because the evidence was not strong and that his physical condition was “poor and frail… requiring constant medical attention.”

Besides Enrile and Reyes, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and his co-accused Richard Cambe filed motions for determination of probable cause, as well as to suspend the proceedings and to produce the complete records of the preliminary investigation.

The Sandiganbayan executive clerk of court Renato Bocar said the issuance of an arrest warrant against the accused was not automatic within the 10 days after the court receives the case, because the anti-graft court has yet to rule on the respondents’ motions.

The Ombudsman has filed plunder and graft raps against Senators Enrile, Revilla and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada for their alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso racket of diverting public funds to ghost projects for kickbacks.

Also charged is alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, whose bogus organizations were allegedly used as dummy fronts for kickbacks.

The ombudsman said it found probable cause to indict Revilla with one count of plunder and 16 counts of graft; Enrile with one count of plunder and 15 counts of graft; and Estrada with one count of plunder and 11 counts of graft.

The anti-corruption agency said the senators’ following Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) were “never used for the intended projects” – Revilla with P517 million PDAF, Enrile with P345 million PDAF, and Estrada with P278 million PDAF.

Other pork barrel scam players were also implicated in the plunder case. Enrile’s co-accused is Reyes, Estrada’s co-accused is Pauline Labayen, and Revilla’s co-accused is Cambe. Co-accused for all three senators are Napoles and John Raymund De Asis. Co-accused for both Enrile and Revilla is Ronald John Lim.

Lim is Napoles’ nephew while De Asis is her long-time employee.

Meanwhile, the accused players in the graft case are: Cambe; De Asis; Mario Relampagos, Undersecretary for Operations in the Department of Budget and Management; Antonio Ortiz , former Director General, Technology Resource Center (TRC),Dennis Cunanan, Director General-on leave, TRC; Francisco Figura, group manager, TRC; Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana, group manager, TRC; Marivic Jover, chief accountant, TRC; Myla Ogerio, Eulogio Rodriguez, Laarni Uy, Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule and Marilou Bare.

The pork barrel scam in the form of PDAF has long been seen as a tool for political patronage and corruption.

The high court ruled the practice of allotting public funds to lawmakers to ease their constituencies’ poverty as unconstitutional at the height of the investigation on the scam.

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