Premature to release Reyes in Ortega murder case, dissenting CA justices say

MANILA, Philippines — Two associate justices of the Court of Appeals said the release of former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes was premature as a "full-blown trial" has yet to start.

The CA's Former 11th Division Special Division of Five, voting 3-2, ordered the release of Reyes from detention due to lack of probable cause in the murder of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerardo Ortega seven years ago.

"Call it a second chance afforded him by God, or a lucky three-point play for him to use a common street lingo or a miracle in his," the CA said in granting Reyes' appeal for nullification of his arrest.

But Associate Justices Maria Filemona Singh and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob disagreed with the majority, saying the determination of probable cause in issuing the arrest rests on the trial judge handling the case.

READ: Joel Reyes' camp confident of dismissal of pending cases

Justice Singh said that she believes the warrant was "based on a reasonable belief, after conducting an evaluation of the evidence on record, that the offense charged in the Information was indeed committed and that the petitioner is probably guilty thereof."

Singh noted that "trial has not even commenced yet," adding that: "As such, there is no occasion to rule on the admissibility of evidence is different from the assessment of its weight. Before evidence may be assessed on the matter of credibility, it just be first offered, then admitted."

She stressed that the trial court is tasked with determining "probable cause" and not "certainty of the guilt of the accused."

Evidence in Ortega case 'not competent'

Reyes, in his appeal, challenged the evidence linking him to Ortega's murder. The CA gave weight to Reyes' argument, saying the evidence presented was "not competent" to establish reasonable grounds that Reyes participated in the commission of the crime.

The CA said the local court committed grave abuse of discretion when it ordered the arrest of the former Palawan governor.

However, Singh held that: "The assessment of the credence and weight of these statements in the majority opinion is thus clearly premature and cannot be the basis for ascribing grave abuse of discretion to the RTC."

Justice Jacob, in her seven-page dissenting opinion, stressed that: "The proper cause of action is not to dismiss the case but to proceed to trial."

"The Court, at this particular stage of the proceedings can not arrogate upon itself the task of dwelling on the factual and evidentiary matters," Jacob added.

"On the contrary, a careful perusal of the records reveals that the sufficient basis exists to support the finding of probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against petitioner," Jacob also said.

Ortega was gunned down in Palawan in January 2011. Police caught the hired gun fleeing the scene of the crime and the murder weapon was traced to a lawyer of Reyes.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro, who also wrote the 2017 decision that acquitted alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Napoles in her serious illegal detention case. Pizarro also penned the CA decision that held that about 10,000 human rights claimants of the Marcos Estate cannot claim their compensation.

Concurring with Pizarro are Associate Justices Danton Buesser and Victoria Isabel Paredes.

Dissenting opinions do not have weight since they have been overruled by the majority.