Ortega widow dares Reyes brothers to surface

MANILA, Philippines - The widow of murdered environmental activist and radio journalist Dr. Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega on Thursday challenged former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes,  to come out of hiding if they believe the Court of Appeals has cleared them of criminal charges.

Speaking for the first time since the CA decision, Patricia Gloria Ortega said the Reyes brothers should now appear in public if they truly believe the CA’s ruling on Tuesday had exonerated them of the charges.

“Come out and surrender to the court, that’s where you can prove that you have nothing to do with my husband’s murder. Your continued disappearance is only a sign of admission of guilt,” she said at a press conference in Makati City.

Mrs. Ortega also vowed to continue with her fight to find justice for her husband’s murder. She also dared Ferdinand Topacio, the lawyer of the Reyes brothers, to convince his clients to come out.

“Atty. Topacio, if you really believe that your clients are innocent of the charges, then you should exert everything and ask them to surface and face the charges,” she said.

Mrs. Ortega also accused Topacio of allegedly spreading misinformation about the CA’s ruling.

“We entertained the thought that our efforts of finding justice for the past 22 months had all been for naught as we were initially led to believe that the warrants of arrest against the Reyes brothers have been quashed and that the two will surface soon,” she added.

However, Mrs. Ortega said their lawyer, Alex Avisado, clarified that the murder case against the brothers is still pending, the arrest warrants against the Reyes’ brothers are still in effect and there is still a  P2-million reward for each of the fugitive brothers.

“The case is still very much alive, buhay na buhay pa po ang kaso at, may warrant of arrest pa rin sila. We will continue the case at hindi po kami aatras,” she said.

Avisado said it is wrong for  the Reyes’ camp to claim that the CA ruling already cleared them of the charges. He said what the Appellate Court had decided on was regarding the technicality in the creation of the second panel of prosecutors formed by the Department of Justice.

“What the Appellate Court had decided on is the issue of technicality at 'di inutos ng CA na i-recall ang warrants of arrest so ang kaso ay buhay na buhay pa po. Wala rin pong determination doon sa CA ruling ng innocence or guilty on the part of the Reyes brothers so kung sinasabi nila na pabor sa kanila ang ruling bakit hindi pa sila lumantad,?” Avisado said.

Mrs. Ortega also pressed the government to exert more effort in locating the Reyes brothers, adding that it has been two years since her husband’s murder but the government has yet to have a solid lead on the suspects’ whereabouts.

“What we want is a more serious effort to hunt down the Reyes brothers wherever they might be. Hinihiling namin na paigtingin pa ang paghahanap sa kanila  kasi sa ngayon hindi ko nararamdaman na seryoso ang gobyerno. Bulag yata sila,” she said.

She also appealed to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas to create a special team focused on the manhunt against the Reyes brothers.

Meanwhile, Puerto Princesa, Palawan Mayor Edward Hagedorn said a failure to hunt down and arrest the Reyes brothers could lead to more journalists being killed.

“It is sad if this is indeed what our justice system is, and we fear many more media men will be killed,” Hagedorn said.

Ortega was gunned down in a Puerto Princesa public market in January 24 last year.

The CA on Tuesday declared as null and void Department Order No. 710 issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in September last year creating another panel of investigating prosecutors to accept new evidence on charges against the Reyes brothers that were already dismissed by an earlier panel created through Department Order No. 091.

In a 36-page decision, the CA’s special fifth division said the DOJ committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

The CA said the manner of reinvestigation conducted by the DOJ that led to the filing of the murder case against the Reyes brothers was “procedurally flawed.”

The Appellate Court explained that the DOJ violated rules of court and its own rules when it created a new panel to reinvestigate the complaint when a petition for review of the resolution of the original panel dismissing the charges against the Reyes brothers was already pending with the office of the Secretary of Justice.

“A review of the antecedents herein would tell us that the Secretary of Justice simply shied away from discharging her power to review, modify, alter or nullify the resolution of the DO-091 which she could very well have done motu proprio even without conducting another investigation,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Leoncia Real-Dimagiba.

“When she created the DO-710 panel, she blatantly disregarded Rule 112 of the Rules of Court and the 2000 National Prosecution Service Rule on Appeal which are the DOJ’s bibles in the conduct of preliminary investigation,” it added.

Associate Justice Myra Garcia-Fernandez concurred while Associate Justice Ramon Cruz submitted a separate concurring opinion.

The CA said that under the rules, a reinvestigation on a complaint should be held by the same prosecutor that conducted the preliminary investigation. The DOJ can only assign new fiscals to handle the reinvestigation if there is compelling reason, which the appellate court said was not present in this case.