In a letter, Santiago asked Senate blue ribbon chairman Teofisto Guingona III to invite or even summon Reyes, who returned to the Philippines from the United States last Saturday.
Santiago added that the Senate committee can still continue its probe on the alleged anomaly, although Guingona already released a draft panel report recommending plunder charges against certain personalities, including Enrile and Reyes, earlier this month.
“I believe that the testimony of Atty. Reyes would serve to round off and clarify certain aspects of the partial report, and that the committee findings could be the proper subject of an addendum or similar subsequent report on Atty. Reyes’s testimony,” Santiago said in her letter.
GMA News Online sent a text message to Guingona to ask for his reaction to Santiago’s letter, but he has yet to respond as of posting time.
Last April 1, the Office of the Ombudsman also recommended plunder charges against Enrile and Reyes for allegedly pocketing pork barrel funds from a scam supposedly engineered by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Reyes is being accused of receiving pork barrel kickbacks for Enrile, and signing documents for the release of these discretionary funds on the senators’ behalf. She has denied these accusations in documents submitted to the Ombudsman.
Also being implicated in the alleged anomaly are Senators Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and several former members of the House of Representatives and heads of implementing agencies which supposedly served as conduits to funnel public funds to Napoles-linked foundations.
Santiago, Enrile’s staunch critic, earlier urged Reyes to “turn the tables” on her former boss by applying as state witness.
Last month, Enrile’s wife, Cristina, confirmed that Reyes had an affair with her husband — an information that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said could bolster the case against the senator. Enrile denied his wife’s statements.
In January last year, Reyes resigned as Enrile’s chief of staff amid accusations she had personally wielded power over Senate matters on behalf of Enrile, who was then the Senate President. — RSJ, GMA News
