Reyes, the former chief of staff of Juan Ponce Enrile, is accused of funneling his pork barrel funds – worth over P172 million – into bogus projects of non-governmental organizations
MANILA, Philippines – Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, who has been released from detention on Thursday, January 19, after nine years in jail, is implicated in one of the most high-profile and biggest corruption cases the Philippines has seen.
This is based on the records of the country’s anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, which has received 10,094 cases of malversation and 7,968 cases of graft against public officials from 1979 to 2016.
Reyes, who served as chief of staff of now-Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile when he was Senate president, was accused of plunder, for supposedly funneling Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund into bogus projects of non-governmental organizations.
The siphoned pork barrel funds allegedly amounted to P172.8 million.
Also tagged in the pork barrel scam – which sparked national outcry in 2013 – were Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Bong Revilla, who were accused of receiving P183.8 million and P224.5 million in kickbacks, respectively. Estrada is out on bail, while Revilla has been cleared in all criminal cases.
Other big graft cases tried by the Sandiganbayan involved former vice president Jejomar Binay and son former Makati mayor Junjun Binay for the alleged overpriced construction of the P2.2 billion Makati City Hall parking building. As of 2018, the anti-graft court denied their motions to quash, prompting them to stand trial.
(READ: Who’s who in PH’s biggest corruption cases?)
Reyes walked free on Thursday after the Supreme Court granted her the privilege of writ of habeas corpus, a remedy which it said could be extended to people whose right to speedy trial had been infringed.
Enrile’s wife Cristina Castañer Enrile claimed that Gigi Reyes was Enrile’s girlfriend. – Rappler.com
