Gigi Reyes to Enrile’s wife: ‘Half truths are lies as well’

MANILA, Philippines – Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, the former chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, shot back at the revelations of Enrile’s wife, Cristina, which confirmed longtime rumors that Reyes and the senator had been involved in an affair.  

“To be sure they are not all lies, but half-truths are half-lies as well,” Reyes said in an exclusive interview with GMA News Online on Wednesday, March 5. 

Reyes was referring to a post on her Facebook page, where she quoted passages from M. Scott Pecks’ book People of the Lie, as reported by GMA News. 

She said she quoted the lines because of the “many lies” she heard during Cristina’s interview. 

In a one-on-one interview with the Bawal ang Pasaway Kay Mareng Winnie program on GMA News TV aired Monday night, March 2, Cristina revealed it was Reyes and Enrile’s affair that pushed her to fly to the United States. 

“I had heard that she was already too long. He has had many girls before Gigi but they don’t last too long. With Gigi, it lasted long. Somebody told me that it’s not only this time but more years that you don’t know. That’s what got me,” she said.

Reyes, meanwhile, left the country in 2013 after being implicated in the pork barrel scam. Reyes is accused of signing documents that facilitated the release of Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to fake non-governmental organizations. (READ: ‘The Boss’ and Gigi Reyes)

Recently, whistleblower Ruby Tuason named Reyes as the woman who received kickbacks for JPE. (READ: Tuason unsure Enrile knew of kickbacks)

‘Why blame the women?’

Reyes also scored Cristina for blaming women. In her interview, Cristina said it was always the girls who threw themselves at Enrile.

“Mrs Enrile has her own reasons for muddling the facts, painting her own picture of her marriage and laying the blame on ‘women’ who she said were the ones who ‘offered themselves’ to her husband. Excuse me, I certainly did not offer myself to him,” she said. 

“So kasalanan lahat ng mga babae? Walang kasalanan si senator kasi lalaki lang siya, natural lang. Ganon ba?” Reyes was quoted as saying. (So it’s the fault of all the women? The senator is not at fault because he is a guy and it is natural. Is that it?)

Enrile, however, on Wednesday dismissed Cristina’s revelations as nothing more than “the suspicions of a wife.” 

Enrile had also denied the affair at least twice in the past. In January 2013, he said in a television interview: “If they’re implying that she’s my girlfriend, well, I’m too old for that, my God!”

The rumor has been around for at least 16 years. In 1998, Enrile issued his first denial when the Chicago Tribune reported that Cristina left him because she could no longer tolerate his “alleged tryst with a top aide.” 

In a statement, Enrile said, “What is totally false and malicious are the reports in the press and the rumor mills that the cause of our marital difficulties is an alleged relationship between me and my Chief of Staff, lawyer Gigi Reyes. There is no relationship, other than an official and professional one.” – Rappler.com