WHY ARE YOU SO SURE THAT REYES WILL NOT TESTIFY AGAINST JPE, JUNGGOY? IS THERE A CONSPIRACY IN HER COMING BACK? ARE YOU PART OF IT? SO WHAT IF SHE WONT TESTIFY? MAGSAMA-SAMA NA KAYONG LAHAT SA KULUNGAN!!! đ ********************************************** Estrada: Gigi Reyes wonât testify vs JPE De Lima doubts if ex-aide can be state witness By TJ A. Burgonio Philippine Daily Inquirer | April 21, 2014 at 3:58 am Take it from Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: Jessica Lucila âGigiâ Reyes isnât out to save her own skin at the expense of her former boss, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS Take it from Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: Jessica Lucila âGigiâ Reyes isnât out to save her own skin at the expense of her former boss, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. Estrada said he believed Reyes came home âto face the charges against her,â but this did not mean she would testify against him or Enrile. âIâve known her for a long time. Itâs not in her character to do that. Sheâs a very good person and an intelligent lawyer ⊠unlike other whistle-blowers who were asked to come home to pin people down,â he said in a pretaped interview with radio dzBB. Estrada, who is now in the United States, said he had no information that Reyes, Enrileâs former chief of staff, had been pressured to return to bolster the governmentâs plunder case arising from the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. The Office of the Ombudsman has found sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of plunder charges in the Sandiganbayan against Estrada, Enrile, Sen. Ramon Revilla, Reyes, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, her former aide Ruby Tuason and four others over the alleged diversion of lawmakersâ allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to ghost projects and kickbacks. Tuason, a former aide of Napoles who also fled to the United States last year, told the Senate blue ribbon committee on her return that she handed Reyes millions of pesos in PDAF kickbacks intended for Enrile. Reyes, along with the others accused, has denied wrongdoing. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday that Reyes remained among the principal accused. She said Reyes had not asked to become a state witness and that whether she could qualify as such was a âbig question markâ for the Ombudsman to sort out. The 51-year-old Reyes left the country last August, a month after the PDAF scandal hit the headlines and sparked nationwide indignation. She returned on Black Saturday on a flight from San Francisco. âIâm ready to face the charges. Iâve always faced it,â Reyes told airport reporters on her arrival. Her brother, Patrick Gonzales, said Reyes was consulting her lawyers and would issue a statement shortly. Levito Baligod, a private complainant and lawyer for most of the whistle-blowers in the PDAF case, told the Inquirer in a phone interview Sunday that Reyes was unlikely to turn state witness against Enrile. He said that based on reports he had received, Reyes returned to attend to matters related to her plunder case that needed her personal appearance. Baligod said the biggest question was whether Reyes would stay or leave again before the plunder case reaches the Sandiganbayan, expected middle of next month. Plunder is punishable by life imprisonment and is nonbailable. On April 7, Reyes filed a motion for reconsideration of the Ombudsmanâs finding. She denied allegations that she received kickbacks. Her lawyers are demanding due process be accorded her and have sought copies of the affidavits of the state witnesses. In a text message to reporters, De Lima said she was not surprised Reyes had returned. âI donât think she could stay out of the Philippines indefinitely. Itâs not easy for such personalities to be âon the run,â so to speak, or live in obscurity,â she said. âMaybe itâs out of necessity because she felt she had run out of options, or out of self-preservation,â De Lima said. âLetâs just wait and see.â Reyes has not contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the National Bureau of Investigation since she left the country, reportedly for Macau in August last year, the justice secretary said. âAs far as the NBI/DOJ is concerned, she remains one of the principal players/respondents in the PDAF cases who have been rightfully indicted for plunder and other graft [charges and] for her remarkable role visâĂ âvis JPEâs PDAF,â she said. De Lima said Reyes âmust face the charges and be dealt with by our justice system.â If she comes clean, this will bolster the governmentâs case, De Lima said. âBut as to whether she would do it only as a state witness or, more pointedly, whether she can qualify at all as a state witness, is another matter. To me, itâs a big question mark. But then again, the decision lies with the Ombudsman,â she added. Deputy Speaker and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao said that while it was difficult to divine Reyesâ intentions, he doubted that she would turn against Enrile. âI donât think she would qualify as a state witness. If she plans to flee ahead of the warrant of arrest, she should not have come home altogether because the warrant will surely be issued. I think she plans to face the charges four-square,â he said. Aggabao said Reyesâ return showed what she felt about her situation. âShe is probably confident that given the evidence the government has disclosed so far, she stands a good chance of beating the raps,â he said. Gonzales said his sisterâs return had no blessing from Enrile. A month after she left the country, Reyes issued a statement via her Facebook account slamming Enrileâs camp for distancing itself from her role in the pork barrel scam. She said that if these statements were sanctioned by her former boss, this was tantamount to a betrayal by him, whom, she noted, she had served for 25 years âwith full dedication, honesty and loyalty.â Enrile has denied betraying her former aide. m.inquirer.net/newsinfo/?id=595877
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 23:25:59 +0000
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