Former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, who was identified as the alleged mastermind behind the murder of environmentalist Gerry Ortega in 2011, voluntarily surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) office in Metro Manila.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) posted on Facebook on Wednesday, announcing that Reyes had surrendered, according to an unspecified source.
On January 24, 2011, in San Pedro Village, Puerto Princesa City, Ortega was shot in the head by a lone assailant. He had been a fervent critic of the then-governor and had voiced strong opposition to mining activities in the province.
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After Ortega’s killing, complaints were filed against the former governor, but the first panel of prosecutors cleared Reyes. In 2012, then-Justice Secretary Leila de Lima established a second panel that charged him. Later that year, a Puerto Princesa City court issued an arrest warrant, but Reyes was already in hiding. He was eventually arrested in Thailand in 2015.
In 2018, Reyes was released after the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled in his favor and halted the trial in Palawan. However, just a year later, CA justices reversed this decision and ordered his re-arrest, leading to the revival of the murder trial.
Ortega filed his candidacy for governor of Palawan in the 2022 elections in 2021, but he was defeated. In 2022, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to suspend the trial in Palawan and prevent the execution of the arrest warrant.
A year later, the Supreme Court (SC) lifted the TRO, allowing the trial to resume and ordering the “immediate re-arrest” of Reyes.
Additionally, the SC moved Reyes' trial from Palawan to Quezon City late last year.
