Ombudsman insists Gigi Reyes must remain in jail

MANILA, Philippines – State prosecutors urged the Sandiganbayan to affirm its ruling denying the motion of Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, former chief of staff of former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, to dismiss her plunder case and to order her release from detention.

In a 25-page opposition paper submitted to the anti-graft court’s Third Division, prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman said Reyes’ motion for reconsideration “deserves not even an iota of merit” as it was supposedly grounded on erroneous arguments.

“There is no ground for accused Reyes to be released from detention. The circumstances she submitted to the court for her release are irrelevant and have nothing to do with the validity of the information in this case,” the prosecution said.

Reyes is facing a plunder case before the Third Division as co-accused of Enrile and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Based on the information of the case, Enrile, through Reyes, received a total of P172.834 million in kickbacks by allocating portions of Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to the fake foundations allegedly owned by Napoles.

The Third Division earlier denied Reyes and Enrile’s motions to quash.

In her motion for reconsideration, Reyes maintained that the information of the case is “fatally defective” and “confounding” even after the prosecution, upon the order of the Supreme Court, submitted a bill of particulars supplying additional information on the case.

Reyes cited that the case information failed to identify her series or combination of overt criminal acts constituting a plunder offense.

She said the prosecution also failed to identify the main plunderer in the case as well as the specific amount of money that she supposedly pocketed in the commission of the alleged offense.

She also argued that there is no showing that the money that Napoles supposedly gave to her for Enrile came from public funds, but rather, it might have come from the businesswoman’s personal funds.

But the prosecution said the arguments raised by Reyes were “bereft of merits.”

The prosecution noted that the Supreme Court had already affirmed the validity and sufficiency of the case information when it accepted the bill of particulars submitted by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The prosecution also said the details that Reyes is seeking to be included in the charge sheet are “evidentiary matters” that must be tackled during the trial proper.