Court to set arraignment for ex-Palawan Gov. Reyes in slain journo case

MANILA, Philippines — An official from the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the court will set an arraignment of ex-Palawan Governor Joel Reyes for his alleged connection with the killing of broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega in 2011.

In a message sent to reporters on Thursday, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said Reyes’ case has been archived for several years now.

READ: Ex-Palawan gov Joel Reyes wanted for killing broadcaster surrenders

“The case has been archived for several years; now that he has been apprehended, the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) will be bringing him before the court where the case is pending. Prosecutors will ask to have the case revived, taken out of archives,” Fadullon said.

“The court will set the arraignment once the return of the warrant against former Gov. Reyes has been made by the NBI,” he added.

On Wednesday evening, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) announced in a Facebook post that Reyes turned himself in before the NBI office in Metro Manila, based on information from an undisclosed source.

Reyes is currently confined in a hospital in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, in an ambush interview, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said NBI personnel were already keeping watching over Reyes even before this development was announced to the public.

“Ipu-pursue na namin and persecution kasi hindi naman pwede ituloy ‘yan ‘pag wala siya,” Remulla said.

(We will pursue the prosecution because it cannot proceed if he’s not around.)

“The whole time, actually, na hindi pa ina-announce ‘yan, he was already under hospital confinement, tsaka may naka bantay na sa kanya na NBI,” he added.

(The whole time, actually, before it was announced, he was already under hospital confinement and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) was already keeping watching over him.)

READ: SC orders rearrest of former Palawan Governor Reyes over Ortega slay

Ortega was a “well-known critic of local government corruption during the term of Reyes,” according to the PTFoMS.

In 2023, a regional trial court (RTC) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, issued an arrest warrant against Reyes.

Palawan RTC Branch 52 Presiding Judge Angelo Arizala signed the arrest warrant on July 20, 2023, after the Supreme Court first division released its March 29, 2023, ruling ordering to rearrest Reyes and subsequent resumption of the murder trial.