HANDCUFFED
Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes is escorted by Thai police officers as he arrives at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday. Thai police had arrested the former governor and his brother Mario Reyes, wanted in the Philippines for the murder of Gerry Ortega, a journalist and an environmental activist who had been campaigning against mining interests.
THE FUGITIVE Reyes brothers—former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes—are arriving today from Bangkok to finally face justice for the murder of broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
According to a source, the Reyes brothers were expected to leave on a late flight from Bangkok, Thailand, last night, arriving in Manila very early today. They will be escorted by a team of Filipino policemen.
“They will be arriving in Manila early Friday but we have no confirmation yet as to the exact details, but possibly they will arrive aboard a Philippine Airlines flight,” the source said.
However, another source said there is a possibility that the Reyeses’ departure from Bangkok may be delayed.
Fighting deportation
“The arrival of the brothers could be delayed because they are fighting deportation proceedings [in Bangkok],” said the source who is privy to the process.
The Philippine National Police held a coordinating conference yesterday to iron out the details of the security arrangements and coordination with other units for the fugitives’ arrival.
According to another source, it was not yet clear if the Reyes brothers will be detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, where high-profile suspects are usually held.
This is because the place of detention will depend on the commitment order issued by a Puerto Princesa court which is trying the murder case against the brothers.
“It is a possibility that they will be detained at Camp Crame, but nothing is definite yet,” said the source.
PNP spokesperson Wilben Mayor said the PNP will follow whatever the court orders as to the detention of the brothers.
Arrest warrant
Agents from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group went to Bangkok to escort the Reyeses back to the Philippines.
Mayor said the arrest warrant against the Reyeses would take effect once they are within Philippine jurisdiction.
“The serving of an arrest warrant is jurisdictional, once you are under the jurisdiction of the Philippines, then the warrant will be served,” he said.
The Reyes brothers, who carried a P2-million reward each for their arrest, fled the country several months after they were indicted for the murder of Ortega and after a warrant for their arrest was issued by the Palawan Regional Trial Court.
Ortega, a hard-hitting broadcaster and a known environmental crusader in Palawan, was shot dead by a lone assassin in Puerto Princesa on Jan. 24, 2011. The gunman, Marlon Recamata, was arrested af- ter a brief chase and later confessed to the crime.
Recamata’s arrest led to the arrest of several other suspects who pointed to the Reyes brothers as the masterminds in the slaying.
The Reyes were arrested by Thai police in the island of Phuket last Sunday for violations of Thailand’s immigration laws.
Based on a report from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), the brothers went to Vietnam and then Thailand using passports with fictitious names.
They assumed the names Joseph Lim Pe and Mario Tolentino Reyes and were accompanied by their lawyer, Hermie Aban, when they flew to Vietnam on March 18, 2012, on a Cebu Pacific flight.
The PCTC report said they left Vietnam for Thailand two days after arriving there on March 19.