Angelo Reyes commits suicide, 65

The heavy congressional inquiries finally took its toll as Sec. Angelo Reyes killed himself in front of his parents’ tomb.

Angelo Tomas Reyes (March 17, 1945 – February 8, 2011)

According to the medical reports of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Reyes was already dead upon arrival. They’ve tried to revive him but after 45 minutes of doing so, at 8:32 in the morning, he was officially pronounced dead. There will be no autopsy as requested by the family.

At eleven o’clock in the morning, his body was wheeled to Arlington Funeral Homes.

Contractors at the Loyola Memorial Park have seen him silently kneeling before his mother’s tomb before finally squeezing the trigger of his .45 pistol directing straight to his chest.

In an interview with Reyes’ family by GMANews, there are three things that are close to Reyes’ heart: his whole family, the Philippine Military Academy, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Lt. Colonel Rabusa, was in shock when interviewed by the media for his reaction. Rabusa was one of the people who exposed the send-off monies given to high military officials in the January 27 congressional investigations.

Reyes can best be remembered after his defection to the forces that had gathered at the EDSA Shrine on Jan. 20, 2001, together with the chiefs of the major service commands, and then defense chief Orlando Mercado sealed the ouster of Joseph Estrada and installed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in power.

From Estrada’s Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2001, he was in the National Anti-Crime Commission Anti-KFR Task Force in February 2004. He also served as the DILG Secretary from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, he was in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He ran for Congress under the United Transport Coalition (1-UTAK), on the 2010 party-list election but was dropped by his party without his consent that led to litigation.

Reyes had a colorful military career and his brilliance can be seen in his early education. He graduated valedictorian in high school. He was also school debater and a campus journalist. He was a member of the PMA Class 1966 where he graduated top seven.

On the later part, Former Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes allegedly received P50 million in “pabaon” (send-off) money when he retired as part of a military tradition going back decades, a former budget officer told a Senate panel on January 27, 2011. Reyes then did not show up in subsequent hearings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Yesterday, he appallingly ended his life.

“In spite of what happened in EDSA Dos, I still remember him as my AFP chief of staff who played a great role in our all-out war against the MILF”, Estrada in a statement. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was among those who came very early at the wake.

Picture Credits:
http://ph.yfittopostblog.com/2011/02/08/family-asks-reyes-critics-not-to-send-flowers-condolences/