Justice still elusive for murdered Palawan journo Ortega, laments son
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — It has been 14 years but the pain lingered, with justice still not attained for the death of broadcast journalist and environment crusader Dr. Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega, his son Joaquin lamented on Friday.
The family and friends of Ortega gathered at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral here for a Mass on Friday to commemorate the 14th year anniversary of his assassination.
Joaquin, Ortega’s only son, speaking during the commemoration, said 14 years have passed but they were still fighting to attain justice for his father’s death.
Long years
“I cannot explain how long the last 14 years have been, not only for our quest for justice, but also for the moments that he is no longer with us,” said the 29-year-old Ortega, who was 15 when his father was murdered.
His father, he said, “was stolen from us, and he missed so many milestones – my high school graduation, when I learned to drive. He also didn’t get to see his grandkids Primo and Tanya, to whom he wold have been the loudest and proudest ‘lolo’ (grandfather).”
Joaquin said his father’s death was also a loss for Palawan, recalling how “Doc Gerry,” as his father was widely known, was “a brave voice against anomalies” and was the lone man who, while a member of the Palawan provincial board, exposed corruption in the use of the billions of pesos in provincial share from the Malampaya natural gas field, located off the shores of Palawan and which generates electricity for about 30 percent of the country, specially the Luzon grid.
Last time
Joaquin recalled that before his father left for his morning radio program “Ramatak” over RMN radio station in Puerto Princesa on Jan. 24, 2011, he reminded his father of his body measurements for his prom attire, and asked for an embrace.
“I did not know that it would be the last time that I would see him and embrace him,” Joaquin added.
Ortega was shot dead while browsing inside a thrift store shop near his clinic in the city’s Barangay San Pedro after he finished his program.
Joaquin said his father had always been proud of his radio program, reminded him that “Ramatak” was his “cure” for corrupt politicans.
“14 years ago, one of the strongest cases against a powerful mastermind was born,” Joaquin said.
Former Palawan governor Joel Reyes was named the mastermind behind Ortega’s murder. He fled the country in 2012 after the Department of Justice indicted him for masterminding the crime. He was arrested in 2015 in Phuket, Thailand, along with his brother and co-accused, Mario Jr., and were extradited to the Philippines. But the former governor was released in 2018 when the Court of Appeals voided the murder charges against him.
Reyes went into hiding anew after Palawan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52 Judge Angelo Arizala issued a warrant for his arrest in 2023, following a Supreme Court ruling that ordered his rearrest and the resumption of the murder trial against him.
Reyes surrender in September 2024 and now placed under hospital arrest in Metro Manila while he would undergo trial in a Quezon City RTC.
