Jessica Lucila "Gigi" Reyes, the chief of staff of former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, will remain under detention despite the threat of COVID-19 after the Sandiganbayan Third Division denied her Motion for Provisional Release Based on Humanitarian Grounds.
All three justices of a division have to reach a unanimous decision for any ruling to push through. In the event that one of them dissents, a special division of five is then created and the majority ruling will be observed.
In this case, Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez voted to deny Reyes' motion while Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg believed it was "premature to deny" it and recommended that a medical examination be conducted. When Associate Justices Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Ronald Moreno were called in, they voted to deny the motion.
Reyes is currently detained at the Taguig City Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, as one of the accused in the P172-million priority development assistance fund (PDAF) scam instigated by Janet Lim Napoles.
Reyes filed her motion on May 28 and pleaded with the anti-graft court to grant her release because her risk of infection from COVID-19 imperils her health and life. She even cited the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) Circular No. 91-2020 entitled "Release of Qualified Persons Deprived of Liberty" and added that Camp Bagong Diwa is a "congested detention facility with occupants exponentially more than its maximum capacity."
At 57, Reyes said she has underlying medical conditions such as hypertension and anxiety disorder which requires her to take daily prescriptive maintenance medication since 2014.
She claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic is a virtual "death trap" for all its occupants, not just for the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) but also the jail personnel.
However, the anti-graft court said in its ruling that Reyes is not a qualified PDL under the OCA Circular and said her reliance on it was "misplaced."
Despite her medical issues such as hypertensive urgency and neurocirculatory asthenia in 2014, the anti-graft court said these issues have already been addressed and medically diagnosed as not life-threatening. Her right hemifacial spasm also does not pose any danger to her life while detained at Camp Bagong Diwa.
"There is no evidence presented that accused Reyes is in danger of acquiring COVID-19 while in detention," the court said in its resolution. "It is worthy to mention that compared to other detention facilities where there has been transmission of COVID-19 among its detainees and staff, there is no report that there are inmates, or even personnel, of Camp Bagong Diwa who have tested positive for COVID-19."
The anti-graft court likewise said Reyes' motion should have been filed with the Supreme Court, where the issue of whether she may be provisionally released is pending. The filing of the motion before the Sandiganbayan therefore resulted in Reyes' forum-shopping.