Photo By Alexis Corpuz
Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer-in-charge Siegfred Mison confirmed on Thursday that Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, the former chief of staff of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, has left the country amid the pork barrel scam.
Mison said Reyes was allowed to leave on August 31 because she was not considered a “person of interest,” and the bureau has no legitimate reason to stop her.
The office of Enrile said they do not know where Reyes was.
Staff members of lawmakers linked to the controversy are reportedly among the people who will be charged. Some of them have already gone on leave.
Patrick Paroan, from Sen. Bong Revilla’s legislative staff, has been on leave for several months, while Pauline Labayen, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s deputy chief of staff, has not been reporting for work lately and has yet to explain her absence.
It was learned that Reyes left the country a few days after reports quoted a witness claiming to have personally delivered pork barrel funds to Reyes.
On Thursday, whistleblower of the pork barrel scam, Benhur Luy told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing that the “chiefs of staff” of senators and congressmen also got a kickback from Napoles.
Enrile’s deputy chief of staff Jose Antonio Evangelista, who is also expected to be included in a separate case that will be filed in connection with the scam, still reports regularly for work but refuses to be interviewed by the media.