Rumors of romance have followed Enrile and chief of staff for years

She is so close to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, and so influential, that rumors about their relationship have been whispered for years. In a bombshell of a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano described in detail just how powerful Enrile's comely chief of staff, Gigi Reyes, is in the halls of the Senate, even calling her the "24th senator" who signs documents on Enrile's behalf, sits in caucuses where only senators are supposed to be present, and attacks other senators on radio.

Addressing Enrile on live television, Cayetano made an insinuation and veiled threat about "a hundred truths" that rang across the national living room. “Sa bawat isang kasinungalingan na inilabas sa akin na nilabas ninyo mayroon akong isandaang katotohanan ang alam ko sa inyo at ni Ma'am Gigi," Cayetano said. “My own able and dependable chief of staff" So who is Ma'am Gigi? She is lawyer Jessica Lucila Gonzales-Reyes, the long-time chief of staff of Enrile in the Senate. Enrile and Reyes reportedly met shortly after the latter passed the bar in 1988 and joined PECABAR (Ponce Enrile, Cayetano, Reyes and Manalastas), the law firm founded by the Senate President and the father of Cayetano, the late Senator Rene Cayetano.

At the UP College of Law Alumni Homecoming last November, Enrile singled her out for praise and affectionate ribbing.    “My own able and dependable Chief of Staff, Atty. Jessica Gonzales Reyes, wrote her personal FIRST to the dancing tune of the song 'I Will Survive,'" Enrile told his audience of lawyers. "She said: 'FIRST I was afraid, I was petrified… But after surviving Ambion and Yorac, I was certain, 'I will survive” UP Law.' Well, all of us in this room apparently survived UP Law!”   In January 1998, a controversial report by the Chicago Tribune alleged that Enrile's wife Cristina left him because she could no longer tolerate his infidelity, and asserted that the other woman was Reyes, who is 30 years younger than Enrile.   In a press statement then in response, Enrile admitted that he and wife Cristina were “facing a difficult time in our marriage and we talked about separation on her request before she left for the United States last Jan. 15.” They had just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.   Enrile, however, denied that Reyes was the cause of their problem.   He said there was no relationship between him and Reyes “other than an official and professional one.”   “Looking for a scandal in this story is misguided and serves no one. And it would cause us only further distress if innocents are smeared by gossip and rumor simply because they happen to be my loyal and professional colleagues,” Enrile said in his 1998 statement. But the rumors did not die down.   On Thursday, the Senate President reiterated his denial, adding that he is too old to have a girlfriend.   "If they're implying that she is my girlfriend, well, I'm too old for that. I do not look old at all... from my waist up I am still very well, but from my waist down, well, I do not know about that. Maybe once in a blue moon if ever," Enrile told Unang Hirit news analyst Winnie Monsod. Reyes has repeatedly refused to be interviewed since Cayetano's speech.   A Senate staffmember, who refused to be named, told GMA News Online that there was nothing unusual about a chief of staff or any trusted personnel of a senator acting on behalf of the lawmaker.   But the staffer noted that during flooding or typhoons, if the Senate employees wanted to go home early, they would text or call Reyes to ask if there was already an announcement of a work suspension. And minutes later, they would hear the announcement.   “Parang siya na talaga yung administrator,” the staff said. Cayetano said in his privilege speech that Reyes virtually “runs the Senate.”   Another Senate staff recalled that during the senatorial campaign for the May 2010 elections, Reyes was the only staffmember allowed to be on stage with the senatorial candidates.   “Pati sya kinakamayan nung mga local officials, parang kandidato na rin siya,” the staff said.   In an interview with reporters, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Reyes was not the only staff member allowed to be present at senate caucuses but other Senate staff as well.   “May pagkakataon may caucus ang senators, nangangailangan ng materials and resource persons. Di namin alam lahat ng issues," Lacson said. "Silang may hawak ng dokumento at sila rin nakakaalam ng ibang details so we have to consult them. Pero sometimes very seldom staff ng individual senators are allowed to sit in caucus. Not really sit but just observe and be on call kung kailangan namin." He added there are times that Reyes was present in the caucuses “but not all the time.” – HS/KBK, GMA News