PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The Supreme Court has struck down a bid by former Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes and his brother Mario to stop the Palawan Regional Trial Court from proceeding with the ongoing trial of the Gerry Ortega murder case where they had been indicted as alleged masterminds.
In a 21-page decision long anticipated by both parties in the case, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition for certiorari, which was filed by the Reyes’ brothers lawyers while they were both in hiding and after the Court of Appeals ruled in their favor to invalidate the preliminary investigation conducted by the Department of Justice.
The Supreme Court ruling penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen for the SC Second Division stated that since the case was already under the jurisdiction of the RTC in Palawan and a warrant of arrest against the Reyes brothers had been issued, “the court acquires jurisdiction of both the case and any motion to determine the accused’s guilt or innocence rests within the sound discretion of the court.”
The Reyes brothers had hoped that the SC would uphold the CA’s ruling finding procedural lapses in the preliminary investigation conducted by the DOJ. The first investigation panel had exonerated the Reyes brothers from the Ortega murder. Its findings however were reversed by the second panel formed by then Secretary Leila de Lima, which evaluated additional evidence submitted by investigators.
The former governor, along with his brother, former Coron mayor, had fled the country before the RTC could issue and arrest warrant against them. They were arrested late last year by Thai authorities in a vacation resort in Phuket, Thailand, after over three years in hiding.
The victim’s family welcomed the SC ruling, pinning hopes that it would speed up the ongoing trial at the Palawan court.
“Finally we hope that this will ensure that the trial will continue to its logical conclusion. This is what we have been demanding all along, that the Reyes brothers should face the evidence against them in court,” Patria Gloria Ortega, Gerry’s widow, told the Inquirer.
The Reyes brothers are detained at the City Jail of Puerto Princesa City.
While under detention, the former governor had launched an election bid for mayor of his hometown of Coron with his brother Mario as his running mate.
The Reyes brothers had also filed a separate petition to be transferred to the local National Bureau of Investigation custody while attending the ongoing trial at the RTC.
Next month, the prosecution is set to present its lone star witness, Rodolfo Edrad Jr., to testify against the former governor. Edrad, also known as Bumar, had identified the former governor as the mastermind in the murder of journalist and anticorruption activist Dr. Gerry Ortega in Puerto Princesa on Jan. 24, 2011. RC