Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes INQUIRER file photo
Former Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes has asked the Court of Appeals to cite presidential spokesperson Harry Roque for indirect contempt for assailing the Jan. 4 decision of the court that absolved him in the 2011 murder of broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
In a petition filed on Wednesday, Reyes said Roque’s statements that were published in the media “tended to impair the court’s independence and efficiency as well as the public’s confidence in the court’s honesty and integrity.”
Speaking to reporters on Jan. 8, Roque called the ruling a “travesty of justice” and vowed that the Duterte administration would “exercise all legal options” to overturn it.
Roque had served as lawyer for Ortega’s family.
Reyes said that while Roque claimed to speak in his personal capacity, his criticism of the decision might have a “possible influence on the public and even the courts.”
State duty
Roque dismissed Reyes’ action on Thursday, saying President Duterte “approved of” his statements critical of the ruling of the appeals court.
“It is the duty and obligation of the state to accord its citizens justice. I spoke in that capacity,” Roque told reporters.
“I have no regrets and even the President approved of my statements,” he added.
He said Reyes’ legal action was an opportunity for him to explain to him the President’s role in the case.
“I welcome that so I can probably explain to the convicted felon—he is a convicted felon, remember—what the role of the executive is, the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is the chief implementer of the law,” Roque said.
Voting 3-2, a special division of the appeals court chaired by Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro nullified on Jan. 4 the decision of the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court Branch 52 to order the arrest of Reyes and put him on trial for the murder of Ortega.
Solicitor General Jose Calida said he would appeal the decision.
Fearing a repeat of Reyes’ escape to Thailand in 2012, the Office of the Ombudsman moved to cancel the former governor’s bail in his graft conviction, which he is appealing, so he could be arrested.
The Sandiganbayan, however, declined on Thursday to rule immediately on the prosecution’s urgent motion to send Reyes back to jail pending resolution of his appeal of his Aug. 29 conviction for graft.
“The court understands your concern given past events that he fled. But at the same time the accused is entitled to be heard,” Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang, chair of the court’s Third Division, told the prosecutors.
Tang made Reyes’ lawyer, Demetrio Custodio, promise to the court that Reyes would not flee the country while the issue was being resolved.
Custodio promised that Reyes would not escape.
The Third Division then gave the defense until Monday to answer the motion.
Convicted
On Aug. 29 last year, the Third Division sentenced Reyes to imprisonment for six to eight years for the irregular renewal of the mining permit of a company that had exceeded ore extraction limits in Palawan province.
Over the Ombudsman’s objections, however, the court allowed Reyes P60,000 bail—double the bond required when the trial was still going on—while it resolved his appeal.
At the time of his graft conviction, Reyes’ no-bail murder case was still pending. Since he was still detained in Puerto Princesa City, the Sandiganbayan said there was no reason to deny him bail.
But following Reyes’ release after the appeals court’s Jan. 4 ruling, the Ombudsman said the Sandiganbayan should reconsider its bail grant because “circumstances … have changed.”