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MANILA, Philippines<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2014 It\u2019s perhaps the unlikeliest of relationships. She was a student activist in her college days at the University of the Philippines (UP), while he was the Defence Minister who implemented Martial Law under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.<\/span><\/p>\n His marriage of 55 years has borne two adult children linked to past controversies, while her marriage, known to have ended, has produced 3 kids, none of whom have been publicly controversial. She is 30 years younger than the man she calls \u201cThe Boss,\u201d an intelligent and astute politician who has survived many political upheavals, including rebellion charges against him.<\/span><\/p>\n Abrasive and cutting as he wishes, most especially to political enemies, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile or JPE has a \u201cspecial fondness\u201d for his former chief of staff Jessica Lucila \u201cGigi\u201d Reyes<\/strong>, say those who\u2019ve been in the Senate for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n On past occasions, they add, they\u2019ve seen Enrile give Reyes a hug and a buss on the forehead. He values her loyalty, for sure, as well as her professional competence. Gigi Reyes was regarded as \u201cthe door, if not the bridge, to JPE.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But at least twice, JPE tried to dispel notions that there was anything more than a professional relationship between them. In January 2013, during an interview on television, he said, \u201cIf they\u2019re implying that she\u2019s my girlfriend, well, I\u2019m too old for that, my God!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That was in reaction to insinuations made in a privilege speech by fellow senator Alan Peter Cayetano about a relationship between Enrile and his then chief of staff. Cayetano\u2019s speech was in retaliation for Reyes\u2019 accusations of hypocrisy against him for supposedly receiving a \u201ccash gift\u201d from the Office of the Senate President. The ugly incident ended with an apology and the <\/span>irrevocable resignation of Reyes<\/span><\/a> from Enrile\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n Before that, the first public denial came way back in 1998 when the\u00a0Chicago Tribune<\/em> reported that Enrile\u2019s wife Cristina left him after she could no longer tolerate his \u201calleged tryst with a top aide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In a statement, Enrile said in 1998, \u201cWhat is totally false and malicious are the reports in the press and the rumor mills that the cause of our marital difficulties is an alleged relationship between me and my Chief of Staff, lawyer Gigi Reyes. There is no relationship, other than an official and professional one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The issue<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The issue would not have mattered, nor would it have been of public interest, were it not for plunder charges involving the alleged misuse by lawmakers \u2014 including Enrile \u2014 of billions of pesos from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). Reyes was also among the respondents named in the complaint filed by the justice department before the Office of the Ombudsman on September 16.<\/span><\/p>\n She is accused of signing documents that facilitated the release of Enrile\u2019s PDAF to fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs) linked to Janet Lim<\/span> <\/span>Napoles, the woman said to be behind the intricate web of corruption and deception involving pork barrel funds.<\/span><\/p>\n In an affidavit submitted by Merlina Su\u00f1as, among the witnesses in the PDAF scam, Reyes is mentioned as being among the recipients of commissions given by Napoles to legislators and their staff.<\/span><\/p>\n “The commission of Atty. Gigi Reyes is given by Madame Jenny [Napoles] to Fernando Ramirez or John Raymund de Asis to be delivered to the house of Atty. Reyes herself.”<\/span><\/p>\n When Enrile\u2019s lawyer <\/span>Enrique de la Cruz defended his client<\/span><\/a>, saying the former Senate president \u201cnever authorized anyone to enter into an illegal transaction. If they did, it\u2019s outside their authority and they should be held responsible,\u201d many took notice. It signalled that Reyes was going to be left hung to dry.<\/span><\/p>\n Obviously hurt by Dela Cruz\u2019s pronouncement, interpreted as having been made with the blessings of Enrile, Reyes spoke about \u201ctravesty and betrayal\u201d in a September 21 <\/span>post on her Facebook page<\/span><\/a>. In all capital letters, she wrote, \u201cthe worst blow has just been dealt upon me by no less than the camp of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the man I served with full dedication, honesty and loyalty for 25 years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The following day, emerging from a 4-day hospitalization,\u00a0Enrile made an appearance in the Senate<\/span><\/a> and said, \u201cI am not out to betray any of my people. I\u2019ve never been known for that.\u201d It was as if \u201cThe Boss\u201d and his loyal staff were communicating with each other through the media.<\/span><\/p>\n Described as \u201ccharming with a high EQ [emotional quotient],\u201d Reyes graduated from the UP College of Law in 1987. Regarded as \u201cone of the boys\u201d back then, she became vice chair of the UP Arts and Sciences student council. \u201cShe is the sort of person who will protect her principal but will not do anything against his interest or without his permission,\u201d said one who knew her. \u201cWhatever she did had the blessings of JPE.\u201d \u2013\u00a0with Marites D. Vitug <\/strong><\/span>(<\/span><\/strong>Rappler.com<\/span><\/strong><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MANILA, Philippines \u2014 It\u2019s perhaps the unlikeliest of relationships. She was a student activist in her college days at the University of the Philippines (UP), while he was the Defence Minister who implemented Martial Law under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,49],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}