EDITORIAL - Face the charges

Thanks to alert Thai immigration agents, former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Mario, former mayor of the Palawan town of Coron, were arrested Sunday in Phuket, Thailand for staying in that country using forged travel documents.

The brothers will be prosecuted in Thailand for breaking Thai laws before they are deported upon the request of the Philippine government, which wants them to face trial for the 2011 murder of environmental advocate and journalist Gerardo Ortega.

The Reyes brothers have challenged the charges against them and have sought to quash the case. If they are truly innocent, they should welcome the chance to prove it in court.

Ortega was a vocal critic of mining operations in Palawan and had accused Joel Reyes of skimming off earnings from the Malampaya gas field in the province when he was governor. He was on his way home when he was shot dead by Marlon Recamata, who is now serving a life term for the assassination. Prosecutors say the gun used by Recamata belonged to Joel Reyes’ lawyer and linked the brothers to the murder – a charge the two men have disputed. The brothers were cleared of the murder by government prosecutors, with the findings later upheld by the Court of Appeals. When the DOJ appealed the CA ruling and sought to arrest the brothers, the two disappeared.

Although they were cleared by prosecutors and the CA, flight is usually seen as a sign of guilt in this country. The brothers should see this latest development as a chance to clear their name.

Meanwhile, the government should also intensify efforts to get other high-profile fugitives. Among them are former Dinagat congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr., convicted of murdering his wife; former police superintendent Cezar Mancao, a state witness in the brutal murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and family driver Emmanuel Corbito; and Reynald Lim, brother of accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

The government should also do its best to find out how the Reyes brothers managed to leave the country despite being linked to a celebrated murder case. The ease by which prominent individuals manage to leave the country when they are wanted for a crime is one of the reasons why impunity prevails.