Prosecution asks Sandiganbayan to cancel bail of ex-Palawan gov
The Office of the Special Prosecutor is pleading with the Sandiganbayan Third Division to cancel the bail posted by former Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes so that he can be sent back to prison.
He was released from the Puerto Princesa City Jail last Friday after the Court of Appeals (CA) granted his petition, which questioned the merit of his trial as a suspect in the 2011 murder of environmentalist and journalist Dr. Gerry Ortega.
Meanwhile, Malacañang has lauded the Office of the Ombudsman’s move seeking the rearrest of Reyes over his recent graft conviction.
“That’s how it should be! I commend OMB for the order,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
Following the release of Reyes, Malacañang has vowed to exhaust legal remedies to reverse the CA decision.
Reyes still has a conviction to deal with before the anti-graft court, which ruled last August that he was guilty of graft and was sentenced to a minimum imprisonment of six years and one month and a maximum of eight years.
However, he was allowed to post bail of 160,000 for his provisional liberty after conviction.
In an urgent omnibus motion filed on January 8, prosecutors are urging the Sandiganbayan to cancel the bail he posted for his conviction since he is still a flight risk.
During the trial of his case, prosecutors lamented the fact that Reyes’ counsel was unable to produce the accused before the court or state the account of his whereabouts on several occasions.
“It will be recalled that accused Reyes was a fugitive. He, together with his brother, were arrested in Thailand. Had it not been for the intervention of Thai authorities, accused Reyes would not have been deported to face the criminal charges against him,” the motion read.
When the court allowed him to post bail on August 29, 2017, they were acting upon the knowledge that Reyes is still locked up in jail for the murder of Ortega. But now that his circumstances have changed, the prosecution strongly urged the court to reconsider his bail posting so that he can immediately be sent back to prison.
Reyes’ graft charge involves the issuance of the Small Scale Mining Permit to Olympic Mines and Development Corporation (OMDC) from April 6, 2006 to April 5, 2008, even though OMDC already mined and extracted the annual maximum of 50,000 dry metric tons of ore set forth by its previous permit.
Reyes, together with Mining Operations Officer IV Andronico Baguyo, were accused of conspiring with one another and giving unwarranted benefit to OMDC since they allowed it to extract in excess of the allowable limit and using heavy equipment in its mining operations, which is prohibited by R.A. 7076 and Presidential Decree 1899. (With a report from Genalyn Kabiling)