OSG urges SC to order re-arrest of ex-Palawan governor over Ortega case

The Office of the Solicitor General has urged the Supreme Court to order the immediate re-arrest and detention of former Palawan governor Joel Reyes in connection with the murder of environmentalist and broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega.

In a 62-page comment, the OSG also called on the high tribunal to lift the temporary restraining order it issued preventing the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court Branch 52 from implementing a warrant of arrest against Reyes.

The OSG also called on the SC to dismiss the petition filed by Reyes, arguing that he is not entitled to a TRO or a writ of a preliminary injunction because his right to due process has not been violated.

“A TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction may be issued upon the concurrence of the following essential requisites, to wit: invasion of the right sought to be protected is material and substantial; the right of the complainant is clear and unmistakable; and there is an urgent and paramount necessity for the writ to prevent serious damage,” the comment read.

“As an accused charged before the trial court, there is no dispute that petitioner has the constitutional right to due process. However, petitioner’s right to due process has not been violated nor will it be violated by his re-arrest and by the continued prosecution of (his) criminal case,” it added

Meanwhile, it stressed that the Court of Appeals has found strong evidence of Reyes’ guilt in its July decision.

“With due respect to this Honorable Court, these consistent findings by the RTC and the Court of Appeals superseded and mooted the issue of probable cause,” it said.

Reyes was the principal accused in the murder of Ortega in 2011.

He was released from detention in 2018 after the Court of Appeals voided a warrant of arrest issued by the RTC due to a lack of sufficient evidence for a finding probable cause.

Ortega was slain on January 24, 2011 while shopping in a used clothes store in Puerto Princesa.

He was allegedly silenced for his radio commentaries about the supposed misuse of the share of the provincial government in the proceeds from the operation of the Malampaya natural gas plant off Palawan. — BM, GMA News