Daily Lessons from Life 08 February 2011 - Ex-Philippine Armed Forces Chief in graft probe shoots himself

"Ex-Philippine Armed Forces Chief in graft probe shoots himself - Tue, Feb 08, 2011
Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network

MANILA, Philippines - Former Armed Forces Chief and Defense Secretary Angelo Tomas Reyes on Tuesday morning committed suicide by shooting himself in front of the grave of his mother at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

He was 65.

A close friend of Reyes called the Philippine Daily Inquirer to break the news, while Colonel Boogie De Leon, a former administrative officer of Reyes when he was AFP chief, said Reyes was rushed to the Quirino Hospital at about 7:45 a.m. to revive him. Members of his family could not be reached for comment.

De Leon said that Reyes's son Jett called him up to inform him of the incident.

Reyes, who earlier suffered a mild stroke before the congressional investigations on the alleged AFP financial irregularities, said he could not take anymore the smear campaign against his name and his family.

"Not my family," he said."

It is a tragedy. He has died for his family's honor. I am not privy to the case and do not know if he was or was not guilty as charged.

Lessons for me are:

1. honor is intangible and one cannot put a price on it. To some it is nothing. To others it means life and death!;

2. if he was wrongly accused and pushed to his limit, a well trained and strong man too, by the press and the prosecutors, it would be a terrible miscarriage of justice. It showed how powerful the press can be on creating the sense of shame in a culprit who still cared about his or her reputation;

3. may he rest in peace and if he was indeed being wrongly accused, may the truth be found and his good name, and his family name, be cleared.

A confused world in a confused place!