Tell all, Gigi urged

MANILA, Philippines - Describing her as a valuable asset to the government prosecution panel, lawmakers yesterday urged Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes to tell everything she knows about the pork barrel fund scam and the alleged involvement of her former boss, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.

Reyes returned to the country last Saturday, eight months after she went abroad when she was linked to the anomaly.

In a radio interview, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago called on Reyes to turn state witness to help pin down the senators tagged in the scam and to be free from the plunder complaint filed with the Sandiganbayan.

“Gigi would be a big, almost an immeasurable asset to the prosecution because she will be testifying from her own personal knowledge. She would be able to testify on the veracity of the signature of Enrile,” Santiago said.

Reyes reportedly signed documents related to the release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of Enrile to bogus non-government organizations linked to alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Without Reyes’ testimony, the evidence against Enrile would be weak or simply circumstantial, according to Santiago.

Santiago also urged the chiefs-of-staff of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., who are also implicated in the anomaly, to come out.

“Enrile is the mastermind. He encouraged Revilla and Estrada,” Santiago said, adding that she believes that Reyes did not decide on pork barrel allocations on her own.

Santiago said the pork barrel case “is a very good example of an opportunity to make a landmark case in Philippine jurisprudence that would determine the moral responsibility of a senator that he cannot delegate to his chief of staff or any of his staff.

“Why did she return to the Philippines if she will just allow herself to be detained? Why will she sacrifice eight months? For me, the only conclusion is that she has decided that she will say the truth,” Santiago said.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said there is a possibility that Reyes can become a state witness so the public can hear her side.

“If we are just going to listen to the side of Enrile, she’s being pinned down. According to the whistle-blowers, everything passed through Gigi Reyes. So it’s important that she airs her side, otherwise, she’s left holding the bag,” Tinio told dzBB.

The lawmaker said he suspects that Reyes’ return to the country was not voluntary and was most likely preceded by talks with representatives of the Aquino administration.

Santiago also wants the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to reopen its investigation into the anomaly and summon Reyes.

Tinio, on the other hand, wants the House of Representatives to also conduct an inquiry into the reported irregularity as Reyes apparently has plenty to reveal about the matter.

Out of character

Meanwhile, Estrada yesterday expressed confidence that Reyes will not turn state witness against Enrile or any of the senators implicated in the pork barrel scam.

Unlike former social secretary Ruby Tuason who has turned her back against him and his father, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada to save her own skin, Estrada said Reyes remains a good friend who is ready to defend herself from false accusations.

Tuason is among the accused in the plunder cases in connection with the pork barrel scam.

“I’ve known attorney Gigi for a long time. It is not within her character to pin down anybody. She is a very intelligent and kind person and I respect her,” Estrada said.

“Unlike other whistleblowers, she is not somebody who will go back home to just implicate other individuals,” said Estrada, apparently referring to Tuason, who arrived in the country early this year accompanied by a lawyer and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Estrada admitted that he and Reyes became close friends because he was designated Senate president pro-tempore when Enrile was Senate president.

Estrada, on vacation in the United States, vowed to come back today, adding that he has no reason to hide since “the case is weak.”

Estrada also slammed the Sandiganbayan for denying their request to get copies of the counter-affidavits of Tuason and former Technological Resource Center (TRC) head Dennis Cunanan, who has applied to become state witness.

The TRC was used as implementing agency for projects funded by pork barrel funds of lawmakers.

Estrada said he and his lawyers are contemplating whether they would bring the case to the Supreme Court since they were denied due process by the ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

Still a question mark

The DOJ, for its part, appears unenthusiastic in making Reyes a state witness.

“To me, it’s a big question mark. But then again, the decision lies with the ombudsman,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters yesterday.

De Lima said the real agenda of Reyes in surfacing at this stage of the prosecution remains to be seen.

“Maybe it’s out of necessity because she felt she has ran out of options or out of self-preservation. Let’s just wait and see,” she said.

The DOJ chief said that unlike Tuason, Reyes had not sent feelers to the DOJ about her return or on willingness to became a state witness.

“We’re not aware that she was returning. She has not applied to be a state witness,” De Lima said.

But she said she was not surprised by Reyes’ return.

“I don’t think she could stay out of the country indefinitely. It’s not easy for such personalities to be ‘on-the-run,’ so to speak, or live in obscurity,” she said.

“As far as DOJ is concerned, she remains to be one of the principal players or respondents in the PDAF cases who has been rightfully indicted for plunder and other graft cases for her remarkable role vis-a-vis Senator Enrile’s PDAF,” she added.

De Lima, however, assured the public that Reyes’ return would not have any adverse effect or impact on the plunder cases.

“She must face those charges and be dealt with by our justice system. If she comes clean, then it can only bolster or strengthen the cases,” she said.

Up to DOJ

Malacañang also said yesterday that it is leaving it up to De Lima to determine whether Reyes can qualify as state witness.

“It’s up to her to study that situation or if she can give any recommendation as to what the appropriate action should be. The DOJ has the primary mandate to assess the evidence on hand,” Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over dzRB.

Coloma said they are not expecting anything from Reyes, but the Aquino administration only wants to provide justice to all those who have been aggrieved by the pork barrel scam.

“All government officials and employees named in the resolution issued by the ombudsman in PDAF-related cases, including attorney Reyes, are accountable for their actions, and are expected to fully disclose what they know,” he said.

“Their willingness to shed light on the ongoing legal proceedings is vital to our people’s quest for justice,” he added. - With Edu Punay, Delon Porcalla