Ex-Palawan gov asks CA to nullify arrest warrant vs him

MANILA, Philippines—Lawyers of former Palawan governor Joel T. Reyes is asking the Court of Appeals to nullify the warrant of arrest issued against him in connection with his alleged involvement in the death of journalist and environmentalist Gerry Ortega.

In a supplemental petition for certiorari, Reyes, through his counsel, also sought to nullify the resolution issued by a new panel of prosecutors created by the Department of Justice last Sept. 7, 2011 for the purpose of assessing new evidence linking him to the killing.

Reyes also asked the appeals court to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction on the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Palawan court.

Reyes, in a resolution issued by the DoJ, was earlier excluded from the list of suspects to be charged with the murder of Ortega for insufficiency of evidence.

But Ortega’s wife, Patria Gloria, submitted new evidence prompting the DoJ to create another panel to evaluate the evidence submitted. Eventually, the DoJ reversed its earlier findings and ordered the filing of murder charges against Reyes, his brother Mario Reyes Jr., who is also the incumbent mayor of Coron, Palawan, former Palawan Provincial Administrator Romeo Seratubias, and provincial government employees Arturo Regalado and Percival Lecias.

Reyes, in his petition, said Justice Secretary Leila De Lima herself had clarified that Department Order 710 “does not set aside the resolutions dated June 8, 2011 and September 2, 2011 rendered by the previous panel of prosecutors…The extent of the new panel’s authority is to assess the admissibility and weight of the additional evidence and its effect, if any, on the existing evidence.”

Quoting De Lima in her ruling dismissing the motion for reinvestigation of the complainants, Reyes said there was no new or material evidence that would warrant the DoJ to reconsider its previous ruling.

But the second panel of investigators nevertheless filed the case against Reyes and several others. The Palawan Court then issued a warrant for their arrest.

Seratubias is already under police custody while the Reyes brothers refused to surrender.

Ortega was killed on Jan. 24, 2011, in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.