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MANILA, Philippines – A day after Jessica “Gigi” Reyes returned to the Philippines, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago repeated her call for Reyes to turn against her former boss, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, and become a state witness.
In an interview with radio dzMM, Santiago said Reyes is eligible to become state witness because she is not the most guilty in the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam, where Enrile and other lawmakers supposedly siphoned taxpayers’ money through fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Ang pinakaimportanteng requirement diyan, you should not be the most guilty. Hindi naman sila pwedeng most guilty dahil hindi sila senador. Ang most guilty sa mga kaso na ‘yan natural ay ‘yong senador dahil inutusan niya ‘yong chief of staff niya at sinupamang subordinate niya,” Santiago told dzMM.
(The most important requirement of being a state witness is – you should not be the most guilty. She [Reyes] can’t be considered as most guilty because she is not a senator. The most guilty in this case is the senator because he was the one who gave orders to his chief of staff and subordinate.)
Reyes, Enrile as well as Senators Ramon Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada are among the 38 charged in relation to the scam.
Reyes was accused of signing documents that facilitated the release of Enrile’s pork barrel funds to Napoles’ NGOs.
On Saturday, April 19, Reyes returned to the Philippines to face the charges against her.
According to a GMA News report, Reyes arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 via PR104 from San Francisco.
She left the country in 2013 after being implicated in the biggest corruption scandal in recent Philippine history. (READ: Gigi Reyes owns 10 properties worth P50M)
Reyes said she left “to seek some peace and quiet amid the barrage of adverse and downright insulting publicity and commentary against me in the mainstream and social media.”
But Santiago said it was possible Reyes returned to the country with the intention of telling all she knew about the scam. The senator said Reyes knew that she will be detained once plunder charges are filed against those involved in the scam.
Santiago added, “What’s the reason why you’re coming back after 8 months when you know that you will automatically be under preventive detention? You could have thought of applying as a state witness.”
Santiago earlier called on Reyes to turn against Enrile. In September 2013, she encouraged Reyes to tell all after Enrile’s lawyer disowned Reyes’ act of endorsing NGOs on behalf of Enrile.
Reyes responded by calling it “an act of betrayal.”
She added: “The worst blow has just been dealt upon me by no less than the camp of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the man I served with full dedication, honesty and loyalty for 25 years.”
Asked if Malacañang was open to the idea of Reyes turning state witness, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said on Sunday the decision was up to the justice department.
“It’s up to the justice department to determine the evidence and proof needed to help the case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman,” Coloma said.
“We leave it up to Secretary Leila de Lima and the department to study the situation and to recommend the appropriate course of action,” he added. – Rappler.com
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