The COMELEC Just Disqualified an 'Escaped Prisoner'
In the 2022 elections, ex-Palawan governor Mario Joel T. Reyes sought to return to his former post. He lost. Now, he’s in for a different type of race, as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) found out he’s an escaped prisoner, prompting the poll body to disqualify his failed bid, instead of considering it moot.
“Reyes was defeated in the Gubernatorial race in the recently concluded elections, however, the Comelec Second Division deemed it proper not to simply treat the case as moot and academic, citing that the Supreme Court emphasized that a disqualification case still presents a justiciable issue which the Comelec should resolve,” the Comelec wrote in a statement on January 5, 2023.
The Comelec discovered that “Reyes is an escaped prisoner and fugitive of justice in connection with the charge against him for the crime of murder of broadcaster Gerry Ortega.”
Gerry Ortega was a journalist and hero of the environment. He died fighting against mining in Palawan, where thousands of yet undiscovered flora and fauna are threatened with extinction because of mining companies. Ortega became an outspoken critic of then-Governor Reyes. Ortega was assassinated on January 24, 2011.
On March 13, 2012, the Department of Justice reversed its former decision of dismissing the cases against then-Governor Reyes, then-Mayor Mario Reyes, Romeo Seratubias, Arturo Regalado, and Percival Lecias. The DOJ ordered the filing of murder charges against them on the death of Ortega after the reviewing the motion for reconsideration filed by Ortega's wife the previous year and taking into account the new pieces of evidence presented there.
The murder charges were filed on March 17, and some of those named were picked up for trial. The Reyes brothers eluded arrest by fleeing the country. In 2015, they were captured in Thailand.
On January 29, 2018, the Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Joel Reyes in connection with his conviction for the anomalous renewal of small-scale mining permits. Separate charges at the Sandiganbayan also link Reyes to the Malampaya and fertilizer fund scams. The Malampaya fund scam has also been linked to Ortega's murder.
