Who gets P4-M reward for arrest of Reyes brothers?

Joel, Mario were setting up fitness club in Phuket  

MANILA, Philippines - The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is trying to reestablish contact with the unnamed informant who pointed to the exact location of the Reyes brothers in Phuket, Thailand that led to their arrest on Sept. 21. No one has yet sought to claim the reward.

Joel Reyes, former Palawan governor, and younger sibling Mario, former Coron mayor, each carried a P2-million reward. They are accused of masterminding the murder of environmentalist-broadcaster Gerardo Ortega four years ago.

Chief Superintendent Victor Deona, director of the CIDG, said the agency is trying to establish contact with the person who provided information on the fugitives through CIDG’s Complaints Referral and Monitoring Center (CRMC).

“The information about the Reyes’ brothers was initially fed to our CRMC. This is a CIDG unit, which receives complaints or referral or any matter that need police action. It receives a lot of information everyday,” he added.

The CIDG chief said the information was fed by a still unidentified informant and that investigators are now trying to re-establish contact as he gave assurance that verification will be made to ensure the claimant is really the one who deserves the bounty.

A report of the Task Force Tugis showed the Reyes brothers entering Bangkok, Thailand through the Suwana Bhumi airport on March 21, 2012 or more than a year after Ortega was assassinated in Puerto Princesa.

Joel, using the name Joseph Lim Pe with passport EB4621556, fled to Saigon, Vietnam on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J-751 on March 18, 2012. It also appeared that he traveled with his lawyer.

Mario, who used his true name and passport (EB0723019), followed hours later on the same airline.

The information was relayed to the Philippine National Police, which coordinated with the Thai unit of International Police (Interpol). A source said a Thai Interpol Technical Team located the exact place where the brothers stayed through a phone number, which was monitored for irregular activity.

“Accordingly, it was in Soi Hinkaaw, Karon, Mueang, Phuket District and in that place resides a small Filipino community. The phone number location was fixed in one place and the phone activities were unusual from time to time. It appears that the phone handler opened the phone only to check for incoming message and then turned the phone off again after it was attended or answered,” the report of TF Tugis stated.

Probe on protectors

Deona said the CIDG would conduct more investigation on the case, including the Reyeses’ alleged protector, reportedly a drug lord in Phuket, and their contact in the Philippines.

A source said there were at least four cellphone numbers in the country that the Reyes brothers communicated with.

Prior to the brothers’ arrest, operatives were misled into places like Masbate, Palawan, Cebu, Nueva Ecija and Aurora, among other provinces.

The source added that the duo planned to put up a fitness club business in Phuket before the year ends. Pressed to comment if the fitness club would be financed by a certain Mr. Lim, the alleged Phuket-based drug lord believed to be coddling the two, The STAR source said it is a possibility.

The same source said the brothers were eyeing a place in Balangay Rawai Muang District in Phuket as the site for their business.

The Thai Interpol and PNP Task Force Tugis noted in their surveillance reports that the Reyeses were having financial difficulties in Phuket.

“The Reyes brothers decided to hide in Thailand than in other countries like Myanmar, Burma and Laos because of their dire political and economic situation, and language difficulty,” a source from PNP Task Force Tugis said.

Members of Task Force Tugis and Thai Interpol arrested the two on Sept. 21 in Phuket. They were deported to the Philippines on Sept. 25 to face trial for the murder of environmentalist-broadcaster Ortega.

The gunman, identified as Marlon de Chavez Recamata, was captured by Palawan police and after through investigation, pinpointed the Reyes brothers as the masterminds in the killing.

As a broadcaster and anti-mining advocate in Palawan, Ortega allegedly earned the ire of the Reyes brothers whom he frequently criticized in his radio commentaries for their alleged links to illegal mining activities and misuse of funds generated from the Malampaya gas field in the province.

In the ensuing legal battle, a Department of Justice panel led by State Prosecutor Edwin Dayog cleared the Reyes brothers and four other suspects for insufficiency of evidence in a June 8, 2011 resolution. However, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima formed a new panel in September 2012 to reopen the case. It modified Dayog’s panel resolution and implicated the Reyes brothers in the killing. With Non Alquitran