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E-mailActivist priest Fr. Robert Reyes will still receive support from some members of the Catholic Church if he is arrested. A warrant is already out for the so-called Running Priest - who runs to support various causes - for failing to attend a hearing in connection with a libel case filed by Jackie Ponce Enrile, son of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, back in 2002.
According to the Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care executive secretary Rodolfo Diamante, the Commission’s Bishop Pedro Arigo has said that “he will be with Father Robert Reyes if there is an attempt to arrest him for the case of libel.”
Reyes confirmed this, saying, “[Bishop Arigo] will support me in my struggle to gain justice in the libel case filed against me.”
Reyes made the allegedly libelous statement back in 2000 in an interview with broadcaster Paolo Bediones, when he blamed Juan Ponce and Jackie Enrile for the death of his nephew Robert Lucas, who was killed in a party in Makati in 1975. No case was ever filed over the death of Lucas.
“Kapag nakikita ko si Juan Ponce Enrile at si Jackie Enrile [Whenever I see Juan Ponce Enrile and Jackie Enrile], I say: ‘you murdered my nephew and no justice was served.’ It’s good to remind the public,” Reyes said.
Reyes was first arrested for libel in 2002, but was released after he posted bail. His arraignment was scheduled for December last year but he failed to attend, prompting Quezon City Judge Marie Christine Jacob to forfeit his cash bond “for his failure to inform the court of his forwarding address in violation of the terms and conditions of [the] bond.”
“The last time I attended a hearing was six years ago,” said Reyes. “I was not informed of any other hearing after that. I am willing to be arraigned and if I surrender voluntarily, I will stay longer in jail this time.”
He added that it was possible his pending arrest was politically motivated, as the case against him was suddenly revived in time for the May elections.
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