The former Senate chief of employees of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile has been launched from the Taguig City Jail, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology mentioned on Thursday evening.
In a press release, the BJMP mentioned Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes was launched from jail round 6:30 p.m.
This developed after the Supreme Court granted Reyes’ petition for writ of habeas corpus, through which she questioned the size of her detention after she was charged with plunder in 2014.
Prior to her launch, Reyes had been in detention since July 9, 2014.
“[P]etitioner’s release from detention becomes imperative due to the protracted proceedings in the principal case,” the SC First Division mentioned in a decision dated January 17.
“Indeed, nine years is far too long of a detention pending the resolution of a criminal case. If petitioner were to wait for a final judgment before seeking effective relief, then it might be too late for her to genuinely enjoy her liberty. By then, justice delayed would truly be justice denied,” it added.
‘Vexatious restraint’
Enrile and his co-accused, together with Reyes, are alleged to have amassed P172.8 million in kickbacks from 2004 to 2010 by non-government organizations related to former businesswoman Janet Napoles.
The 98-year-old former senator spent over a 12 months below hospital arrest earlier than the SC granted him bail on humanitarian grounds in August 2015.
In Reyes’ case, the SC mentioned she was in a position to show that her detention “had become a form of vexatious restraint, despite being detained by a virtue of a court order.”
“Her confinement, though in accordance with a court order of the Sandiganbayan, has become oppressive thus infringing upon her right to liberty,” it mentioned.
According to Reyes, the trial on the Sandiganbayan was delayed attributable to incorrect markings within the prosecution’s proof.
“Petitioner further contextualized the delay by noting that thousands of bundled marked exhibits are to be considered by the Sandiganbayan,” the SC mentioned.
The SC additionally mentioned that the Sandiganbayan has to date allowed just one witness per day and cited Reyes’ assertion that the trial solely started on March 3, 2022.
“[A]fter much consideration of all the facts and circumstances attendant to the case, this Court finds that the prosecution has not been able to explain the said prolonged proceedings,” the decision mentioned.
Meanwhile, the excessive courtroom ordered Reyes to personally attend the hearings of the case, submit a quarterly report back to the Clerk of Court of the Sandiganbayan of her whereabouts, safe a journey authorization from the anti-graft courtroom if she plans to go overseas, and submit a report of her return inside 5 days of her arrival within the nation.
She should additionally present the SC with a quarterly report of her compliance with the circumstances.
“The release of petitioner shall be without prejudice to her re-arrest and detention should she fail to comply with any of the conditions,” the decision said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
