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Gigi Reyes denies signing endorsement letters, receiving PDAF kickbacks in Enrile plunder case

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Testifying for the first time in the plunder case against her, lawyer Jessica Lucila ‘Gigi’ Reyes on Tuesday denied involvement in the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of her former boss, former senator and now chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile. Reyes, who served as Enrile’s chief of staff from 1995 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2010, said she never signed any letter endorsing NGOs as implementing agencies of Enrile’s PDAF, insisting that these letters never went through her. The prosecution had presented 7 letters bearing Reyes’ signatures with dates ranging from April 18, 2007 to December 7, 2009 addressed to various government agencies or corporations such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), the National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC) and the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC). In the letters, Reyes allegedly endorsed different NGOs to be beneficiaries of Enrile’s PDAF, with amounts ranging from P25 million to P50 million.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/07/23/gigi-reyes-to-testify-in-her-defense-in-plunder-case-with-enrile">Gigi Reyes to testify in her defense in plunder case with Enrile</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/09/23/gigi-reyes-plunder-trial-reset-anew">Gigi Reyes plunder trial reset anew; witness busy with Senate budget hearing</a></li></ul>But on direct examination in the witness stand Tuesday, Reyes said she did not know some of the NGOs and it was not part of her duties to make the endorsements. She pointed out that she would never have signed the letters if these lack basic details, such as the address of the NGO. “I could not have signed these letters because I review the letters meticulously. And I meticulously review, especially those letters signed by the Senate President or the senator,” she told her lawyer, Anacleto Diaz. She pointed out that in some letters, there were references to “my PDAF” or “my deputy chief of staff,” which she said she would never use had the letters come from her. “I never signed any letter pretending to be a senator. I do not have any PDAF,” she said. She claimed she only learned about the letters from a special audit of the Commission on Audit released in 2013, when she was no longer connected to Enrile’s office. Enrile, however, sent COA a letter confirming his staff’s signatures in the 7 endorsement letters, based on the evidence presented by the prosecution. Reyes claimed this confirmatory letter did not go through her and blamed Enrile’s then-deputy chief of staff for sending it without her knowledge.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/19/23/enriles-former-aide-gigi-reyes-released-from-jail">Enrile&#x27;s former aide Gigi Reyes released from jail after almost 9 years</a></li></ul>NO MONEY RECEIVED FROM TUASON Reyes is accused of conspiring with Enrile and “pork barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles to amass P172.83 million worth of kickbacks from Enrile’s PDAF funneled through ghost NGOs created by Napoles. But on the witness stand, Reyes denied receiving any amount from whistleblower Ruby Tuason as Enrile’s share of the kickbacks. “I did not receive any amount from Ruby Tuason,” she said. While she acknowledged having lunch with Tuason and Enrile, she said they did not discuss PDAF but only the sale of an island in Palawan, which was eventually consummated. Reyes added, neither did she receive any money from Tuason in some other restaurants. “These are public, open, busy places. I cannot even imagine Ms. Ruby Tuason…to be carrying these sums of money that she claims that… She had gotten from Benhur Luy or from the office of Mrs. Napoles, and handed these to me at those restaurants. In fact, she even testified that she’s too frail to carry these sums of money,” she said in court. Tuason had claimed she handed over millions in Enrile’s kickbacks to Reyes and at one point, Reyes allegedly complained of a shortage of P500,000. Reyes called the allegation a “complete fabrication.” “How can I complain about anything that I did not get any?,” she asked. But why would Tuason claim she gave money to Reyes? Reyes quoted Tuason’s statements during a 2004 Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing saying she would rather die than go to jail because she would get a heart attack as a hypertensive. During Reyes’ direct examination, her lawyer Anacleto Diaz, introduced new documents which were not marked during pre-trial. Despite objections from the prosecution, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ronald Moreno of the Third Division allowed most of the documents in the interest of justice except for a picture which was supposedly intended to show Tuason’s alleged single-minded intent to claim immunity. Due to lack of time, Reyes’ direct examination will continue on November 21 at 2 p.m. After her direct examination, the prosecution will subject her to cross-examination.<div> RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2868569" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Gigi Reyes testified for the first time in the plunder case against her on Tuesday. 

Gigi Reyes denies signing endorsement letters, receiving PDAF kickbacks in Enrile plunder case

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Gigi Reyes denies signing endorsement letters, receiving PDAF kickbacks in Enrile plunder case

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 14, 2023 08:51 PM PHT

Read More:

Juan Ponce Enrile

PDAF

Gigi Reyes

Janet Lim Napoles

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