Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile (L) and his former chief of staff Atty. Gigi Reyes (R).
The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division on Thursday ordered lawyer Gigi Reyes, the former aide of former senator and now Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, to post bail for her graft cases in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
Court records state that for each of the 15 graft cases, the recommended amount of bail is P30,000, totaling to P450,000 for all the cases.
After the hearing Thursday for the plunder and graft cases of Reyes, Enrile and their other co-accused individuals, Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez called the attention of Reyes’ lawyer.
“After a review of the records the court was surprised that accused Reyes has not yet submitted bail for these cases,” Fernandez said.
As such, the court gave Reyes' camp 15 days to file the complete bail for the graft cases.
According to Atty. Levito Baligod, one of the private complainants in the PDAF scam, the petition for habeas corpus was for Reyes' plunder case, which is non-bailable.
However, since she has 15 graft cases, she shouldn't have been released by the Bureau of Corrections without posting bail.
"In legal circles, napag-usapan po namin 'yan, bakit pinalabas ng Bureau of Corrections si Atty. Reyes na wala pa siyang bail doon sa 15 counts of graft, kaya po they were able to remedy it," Baligod told Teleradyo.
Baligod also said the BuCor may be held liable for releasing Reyes, considering that the petition was only for her plunder case.
"Pwede ring may pananagutan 'yung management or 'yung namamahala ng Bureau of Corrections, dahil ang saklaw lamang noong pagpapalaya kay Atty. Reyes ay 'yung sa plunder, hindi po doon sa 15 counts of graft," he explained.
Reyes, who was Enrile's former chief of staff, was released last month after the Supreme Court granted her camp’s petition for habeas corpus in connection with her almost 9-year incarceration for plunder which is non-bailable.
Reyes was present in court since the Supreme Court gave her the condition that she will have to attend all her hearings at the Sandiganbayan.
During the plunder and graft hearings, the prosecution presented four farmer beneficiaries from Pangasinan from Rosales town: Ernesto Calantoc, Jr., Saturnino Brizuela, Melito Meriales and Edwin Meriales.
The farmers gave their testimony through their sworn judicial affidavits where they said they did not receive any agricultural package in connection with the PDAF scam.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: