The former chief-of-staff of then Senator and now chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile was released from custody Thursday evening, ending almost nine years of being in detention for her alleged complicity in the pork barrel scam, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said.
BJMP said Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes was released from the Taguig City Jail Female Dormitory at around 6:30 p.m. after the Supreme Court granted her petition for habeas corpus on January 17.
“She was released by virtue of Petition for Habeas Corpus granted in resolution dated 17 January 2023 by the First Division, Supreme Court of the Philippines,” the bureau said in a statement.
The Supreme Court has clarified that the release of Reyes is only temporary as she is still required to face trial for her alleged role in the pork barrel scam.
“The grant of the writ of habeas corpus does not entail determination of the principal case. What is secured is merely the petitioner’s provisional liberty due to vexatious, capricious, and oppressive delays in trial,” the SC First Division said.
Reyes, who has been detained since July 2014, filed her petition for habeas corpus in 2021.
“There are conditions [to her release]. First is that Ms. Reyes shall personally attend the hearing,” said Jail C/Insp. Jayrex Joseph Bustinera in an interview on ABS-CBN TeleRadyo.
“Second, she has to submit a quarterly periodic report to the Clerk of Court of the Sandiganbayan as to her whereabouts. No. 3, she needs to secure a travel authority from the Sandiganbayan in case she needs to travel ” he added.
The fourth condition is for Reyes to submit a quarterly report to the court regarding her compliance with all the conditions set.