Sandiganbayan denies Gigi Reyes’ plea to dismiss pork barrel scam case

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has denied the appeal of Gigi Reyes for the outright dismissal of her plunder case in relation to the pork barrel scam.

In a resolution issued on October 17, the Sandiganbayan Third Division dismissed Reyes’ appeal on the denial of her motion for leave of court to file demurrer to evidence, noting that Reyes just reiterated the same argument in her earlier motion that had been denied.

“Apart from restating the grounds mentioned in the motion for leave to file demurrer to evidence, no new arguments were raised that would warrant a reversal of the Court’s Resolution dated September 19, 2023,” the court said.

Reyes is accused of acting in conspiracy with her former boss, former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, and private defendants Janet Lim Napoles and John Raymund de Asis to defraud the government of hundreds of millions from Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel.” (READ: Why was Gigi Reyes in jail? She’s implicated in one of PH’s biggest corruption cases)

In her latest appeal, Reyes questioned the basis for the allegation that she conspired with her co-accused and decried partiality on the part of the Sandiganbayan as Enrile was granted leave to file his demurrer to evidence. Reyes was the chief of staff of Enrile.

The court, however, noted that Reyes contradicted her own arguments by raising the issue of partiality.

“While accused Reyes assails the alleged presence of conspiracy in this case, she now asserts the very same concept of conspiracy in her motion for reconsideration to entitle herself to file the intended demurrer to evidence,” the court said.

The anti-graft court set the resumption of the presentation of Reyes’ evidence on November 7 and 9, at 2 pm, and every Tuesday and Thursday until trial is terminated. – Rappler.com