Revenge of the ‘Gigi’
By Manny Pinol
The legal ploy of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the senators embroiled in the pork barrel scam, of putting the blame on his Chief of Staff for 25 years in an attempt to wiggle out of the plunder charges has backfired.
Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, once described as the 25th senator because of her immense power “has expressed hurt over the statement of Enrile’s lawyer that showed his camp was distancing itself from her role in the pork barrel scam,” a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.
Here are portions of the PDI report written by Norman Bordadora:
“THE WORST BLOW HAS JUST BEEN DEALT UPON ME BY LESS THAN THE CAMP OF SENATOR JUAN PONCE ENRILE—THE MAN I SERVED WITH FULL DEDICATION, HONESTY AND LOYALTY FOR 25 YEARS,” an ABS-CBN report quoted what it said was Reyes’ statement posted in her Facebook account. That portion of the statement was in all caps for emphasis. “If indeed these statements are sanctioned by or coming from my former boss, then nothing can be worse than this kind of betrayal.”
“Enrile’s lawyer Enrique de la Cruz had said earlier that Enrile did not give his blessings to what Reyes had done in the releases of his pork barrel funds.
“Enrile was among the three senators whom the National Bureau of Investigation had charged for plunder in the P10-billion pork barrel scam engineered by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Reyes, who had been called the 25th senator because of the power and influence she had when Enrile was Senate President, was also charged by the NBI with plunder. She left the country on Aug. 31 before the NBI filed the cases in the Ombudsman.
“Reyes, according to the report, said “this very tragic development is beyond my comprehension.”
“Reyes was quoted in the report as saying the last time she spoke with Enrile was from abroad and that he told her they would face the charges together.
“He maintained that he will stand by the authority he issued to me and that all I did was faithful and pursuant to his instructions. He even told me to be strong; that we will fight together to prove the accusations against us are false and fabricated,” Reyes was quoted as saying in her Facebook post.
“I never once thought that this day would come. I never stepped on anyone’s toes nor abused my position in all the years I served in the Senate. But I have earned the bitter ire and enmity of some people by and large because and in defense of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile,” she said.
“Enrile had described Reyes, who served him for 25 years, as his eyes and ears.
“Reyes said she left the country “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.”
“Reyes resigned as Enrile’s chief of staff in late January after the Inquirer exposed Enrile’s distribution of extra cash gifts to senators friendly to him. Enrile later resigned the Senate presidency himself after defending himself from that controversy.”
Like fellow Senator Jinggoy Estrada who unabashedly declared that the “buck stops with my Chief of Staff,” Enrile through his lawyers is trying to distance himself from the pork barrel scam by putting the blame on Reyes.
He claims that his instructions were for his funds to be coursed through local government units and not the Napoles NGOs.
The Commission on Audit (COA), however, has said it has in its possession signed endorsements by Reyes and her assistant naming the NGOs as the recipients of the funds.
Reyes is now saying that these endorsements had the written authorization of Senator Enrile.
As things stand now, Enrile faces the grim prospect of the very woman he trusted for the past 25 years spilling the beans on him appears real for the former senate president.
That could have the same impact as Benhur Luy’s expose against Janet Lim Napoles.
Whether the revenge of a hurting Gigi Reyes would also bring the aging Senator to a detention cell, as Luy’s did to Lim-Napoles, remains to be everybody’s guess.
(Photo caption: This photo downloaded from the Philippine Star shows the power and influence of former Enrile chief of staff Gigi Reyes as she is shown here sharing table with President Aquino, Vice President Binay, former President Estrada and Senate President Enrile.)
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