Ortega widow renews call for justice for slain journalist

On her late husband’s 52nd birthday, a widow renewed her family’s call for justice.

Patty Ortega, the wife of slain journalist Dr. Gerry Ortega, on Friday revived calls for the government to act on the 2011 murder in Palawan which was attributed to powerful former officials in the province.

“Nakakapagod na rin (It has become tiring),” Ortega said in an interview on Friday.

“Because everytime [I talk about it], it renews the feeling I had when it happened,” she told the Inquirer.

The Ortega family yesterday launched a signature campaign in the hope of spurring public clamor for justice. The initial goal was to collect 15,000 signatures, she said.

Masses for Ortega

The family asked parish priests across Palawan to hold Masses for the slain journalist.

“This is to help revive this case because, hello? Government agencies? Where will you see a case where the evidence is very strong and nothing has happened?” she said.

Running priest Fr. Robert Reyes, a friend of the Ortegas who has been supporting the family’s quest for justice, said the signatures would be delivered to the Department of Justice (DOJ) through a run as soon as this number is reached.

Addressing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Reyes said: “We still believe in your capacity to push for the truth.”

“Before you run (for the Senate), please make sure that justice is achieved for Doc Gerry, and we will run with you,” said Reyes, in reference to De Lima who is known to be eyeing a seat in the Senate in 2016.

Fugitive brothers

Gerry Ortega, a vocal critic of local officials for the alleged misuse of funds culled out of earnings from the Malampaya gas field in Palawan, was gunned down on Jan. 24, 2011.

Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother, former Coron town Mayor Mario Reyes, who are accused of masterminding the slay, remain at large.

While the Reyeses are still free, the gunman Marlon Recamata was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013.

“It has almost been five years since Dr. Gerry Ortega was murdered. Up until now, Palawan has been crying and demanding for justice. We still await the trial of the murder suspects, primarily the former Palawan Governor Joel T. Reyes,” the family said in a statement released on Friday.

Flaws in system

The Ortega family has a pending review petition at the DOJ, after the Court of Appeals cleared the Reyes siblings of the charges in 2013 due to procedural lapses of the DOJ panel that investigated the case.

“The trial has been hampered by the adamant refusal of the Reyes brothers to submit to the majesty of the court. To this day, they remain fugitives, flaunting their ability to evade legal processes,” the statement read.

The Palawan media community issued a separate statement, citing how “the flaws in our judicial system have benefitted powerful individuals.”

“We deplore the inability of our law enforcement agencies to arrest two ordinary individuals who, as former public officials, were supposed to be untrained and not oriented on the tactics of countersurveillance and evasion,” the statement read.

They called on the Reyes siblings “to let justice take its course.”