Reyes brothers still wanted – DOJ

MANILA, Philippines - Former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother former Coron mayor Mario Reyes remain fugitives even after being absolved by the Court of Appeals (CA) in the killing of environment advocate Gerry Ortega in January 2011.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said the Reyes brothers would remain fugitives as there are standing warrants for their arrest issued by the Puerto Princesa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52.

“As far as I know, the CA ruling does not quash the warrant of arrest issued by the RTC. That was one of our arguments. The fact that the Palawan RTC accepted the case and issued the warrant, meaning it agreed on findings of probable cause,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

She also cited the order of the RTC last Aug. 29 denying the motion of the Reyes brothers to implement the CA ruling and to recall the arrest warrants against them.

With this, she said the manhunt for the brothers, who were tagged by the other accused as masterminds of the murder, should proceed.

“I think teams from PNP (Philippine National Police) and NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) are undertaking the manhunt operations,” she added.

De Lima also reiterated that she would question the CA ruling before the Supreme Court.

“I cannot just let it pass because I believe there is significant emasculation of my prerogatives or authority over internal processes or proceedings of the DOJ (Department of Justice). It seems that the justices do not understand that there are certain times when the secretary of justice needs to act on matters without strict conformity with written rules. It is within my prerogatives and plenary authority as head of agency,” she stressed.

She was reacting to the ruling of the special 10th division of the CA denying the motion filed by the DOJ seeking reconsideration of its decision last March 19 that nullified the DOJ resolution indicting the fugitive former governor for murder.

Voting 3-2, justices of the CA division stood firm on its finding that the DOJ committed grave abuse of discretion when it violated procedural protocols governing investigations of cases in creating a second panel of investigating prosecutors instead of resolving a petition for review pending with the office of De Lima.

The CA reiterated that De Lima’s action showed “wanton disregard of the rules of procedure and applicable jurisprudence.”