[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”]
[/av_textblock]
[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Ortega slay: Ex-Palawan guv acquitted ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
MANILA – Former Palawan governor Joel T. Reyes was acquitted of murder charges over the death of environmentalist and journalist Dr. Gerry Ortega in 2011.
The Court of Appeals (CA) upheld Reyes’ petition questioning the merit of his trial. Reyes was released from the Puerto Princesa City jail on Friday evening.
“The CA has ruled that the regional trial court has no basis to continue with the trial. Mali ang filing ng RTC (Regional Trial Court). The RTC should stop hearing the case,” Reyes’ lawyer Demetrio Custodio said in a statement.
Custodio also quoted the CA’s decision, saying that the “uncorroborated statement” of witness Rodolfo “Bumar” Edrad was insufficient to link the former Palawan governor to the case.
“If (Ortega family) want to file again and it will be based on the same evidence, then it will suffer the same fate,” Custodio said. “They can present another witness but I doubt if there is another, because then he should have been presented before.”
Ortega, a hard-hitting broadcaster and a known environmental crusader in Palawan, was shot dead by a lone assassin along the downtown area of Puerto Princesa City on Jan. 24, 2011.
The suspected assassin, Marlon Recamata, was caught and later confessed to the crime.
His arrest led to the capture of several other suspects, who pointed to former governor Reyes and brother Mario, former mayor of Coron town, as masterminds.
Former governor Reyes was initially absolved by a Department of Justice panel of investigators but then Justice secretary Leila de Lima rejected the decision and formed a second panel, which found prima facie evidence to indict him.
In 2012, Reyes went into hiding before an RTC issued a warrant of arrest against him. The Reyes brothers were eventually arrested in Thailand and brought back to the Philippines to face trial in 2015.
Members of the Ortega family declined to give a statement as of this writing as they await a copy of the CA ruling./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
