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DOJ to ask court to arraign ex-Palawan governor Reyes on murder charge

Philippines | National

DOJ to ask court to arraign ex-Palawan governor Reyes on murder charge

By Jeffrey Damicog

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will ask the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) to set the arraignment of former Palawan governor Joel T. Reyes for murder in connection with the 2011 killing of broadcaster Gerry Ortega in Puerto Princesa City.

Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony D. Fadullon, prosecutor general officer-in-charge (OIC), said on Thursday, Sept. 12, “prosecutors will ask to have the case revived, taken out of archives, and have it scheduled for arraignment and pre-trial.”

Fadullon said the Supreme Court (SC) had ordered the transfer of the case filed against Reyes from the Puerto Princesa RTC to the Quezon City RTC.

He explained that the case had been archived because Reyes was at large until his recent surrender to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMs) announced on Wednesday, Sept. 11, Reyes' surrender to the NBI at the National Capital Region (NBI-NCR).

Reyes and his brother, Coron mayor Mario Reyes, were indicted in 2011 for the killing of Ortega who is a known critic of the two over alleged mining activities and corruption in the province.

The Reyes escaped to Thailand but got arrested and returned to the Philippines in 2015.

They managed to get a favorable ruling from the Court of Appeals (CA) in 2018 that ordered the Puerto Princesa RTC to drop the charges.

However, the CA reversed the ruling in 2019 and ordered the resumption of the trial due to the lack of grounds to drop the charges.

In 2023, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the the trial court to proceed "with utmost dispatch" on the trial of Reyes as it ordered the former governor's arrest.

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