Reyes kills self

MANILA, Philippines - Angelo Reyes lingered behind his parents’ graves as his two sons, an aide and driver walked back to their car at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina yesterday morning.

Reyes went down on his knees before the grave of his mother Purificacion. Moments later, a shot rang out and he slumped on the grave, spattering it with blood.

As his companions rushed him to the car, a grave caretaker said he overheard the dying Reyes tell his sons Carlo and Judd, “Sorry ha, sorry ha” when they asked him “Bakit (Why) dad, bakit dad?”

Reyes was lifeless upon arrival at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, where doctors officially declared him dead at 8:32 a.m. after about 45 minutes of trying to revive him. A .45-caliber bullet had pierced his chest near his heart and exited through the back. Doctors tentatively pronounced the death a suicide.

It was a tragic end for a decorated military officer who in his final days saw his name tarnished by allegations of skimming millions of pesos from funds meant for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

A day earlier, Reyes had sent a letter to the House of Representatives, declining to attend a committee hearing on the plea deal being negotiated by retired AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia.

“He was dead on arrival. They were not able to revive him... as of now, our finding is only one gunshot wound,” Health Secretary Enrique Ona told reporters.

“Based on the position of the shot, the bullet most probably hit his heart. If not, his large veins were damaged,” Dr. Fernando Lopez, Reyes’ attending physician, told The STAR.

Dr. Angeles de Leon, chief of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, said Reyes no longer had vital signs when he was wheeled into the emergency room.

At the Senate on Monday, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada had presented documents showing the numerous foreign trips taken by Reyes’ wife Teresita together with the wife of former AFP comptroller Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot.

In the course of the congressional probes, retired military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa had accused Reyes of receiving P50 million as pabaon or sendoff upon retirement as AFP chief of staff, apart from a monthly P5-million payoff from military funds during his tenure. Rabusa also claimed he gave shopping money to Mrs. Reyes.

Emotions ran high when Reyes tried to confront Rabusa at the Jan. 27 hearing but was restrained by senators, including Antonio Trillanes IV, a former navy officer who was detained for more than seven years for alleged involvement in failed coups against former Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“I’m just trying to protect my reputation here,” Reyes said.

“I have served this government for 48 years,” he said during the Senate hearing in what would be his last public appearance.

“No, no, no, you don’t have any reputation to protect,” Trillanes responded. “I believe this is the time of reckoning... You better find very good lawyers,” he added.

Rabusa sounded distraught yesterday, saying in a radio interview that he was shocked by the death of his former boss. He said he had stood as godfather at the weddings of two of Reyes’ five sons.

“Yung mga kamag-anak niya, sigurado po galit na galit sila sa akin. Hindi ko po alam kung ano’ng mangyayari sa akin (His relatives, I’m sure they are furious at me. I don’t know what will happen to me),” Rabusa said in an interview aired on ANC.

Depressed

Retired Navy commodore Rex Robles said he talked to Reyes recently, during which the former AFP chief and defense secretary sounded depressed over the congressional inquiry.

“Hindi titigil ito (This will not stop),” Robles quoted Reyes as telling him. “Wala akong lakas na labanan ito (I have no power to fight this).” Robles said Reyes had also told him about a phone call from Mrs. Arroyo. Reyes did not say what he and Arroyo talked about.

Robles, a member of class ’65 and an upperclassman of Reyes, said the former AFP chief also confided to him that a powerful group was out to get him.

“I’m up against a powerful group. They are out to get me. They will not rest until they crush me…Gusto nila ako durugin (They want to destroy me),” Robles quoted Reyes as telling him last Monday.

“I told him (Reyes) you can pull through that. You can always go to court. But he said the court is not the only weapon here,” Robles said.

As news of Reyes’ death spread, among the first to rush to the hospital was former President Arroyo.

Reyes’ 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 Arroyo in power.

“He served his country well in uniform and in the halls of government,” Arroyo said in a statement, adding that Reyes answered the people’s call for drastic reforms during “an extraordinary time that demanded extraordinary measures.”

Arroyo had appointed Reyes as defense secretary upon his retirement as AFP chief. In the course of the next nine years, Reyes served as secretary of the interior, environment and, in his last posting, energy. He also once headed Arroyo’s task forces against smuggling and kidnapping.

“I am shocked and sad,” Garcia said on learning of Reyes’ death.

“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. Let’s pray for his soul,” Estrada told The STAR.

“I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family of former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes. I was shocked by the news and offer my heartfelt sympathies to his family. Let us all pray that they find peace and overcome this tragic event,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said.

Last moments

Feliciano Recorba, 52, Loyola Memorial Park maintenance supervisor, said he saw Reyes, his two sons, their driver and a bodyguard arrive at the Garden of Prayers area at the park at about 7:45 a.m.

He said he knew Reyes because he would always visit the graves of his parents, Pablo Paraligan Reyes and Purificacion Tomas Reyes, especially during special occasions.

Recorba recalled that at the time Reyes shot himself, his two sons were standing next to their black Nissan Sentra with their driver behind the wheel, while their bodyguard was a few feet away from the former AFP chief who was in a short-sleeved barong.

He said Reyes appeared uneasy and was pacing back and forth before standing still in front of the graves.

Recorba said he was sweeping some 20 feet away from Reyes when he saw him pull out a handgun and shoot himself in the left chest.

Security guard Arman Hemongala, 28, of the Skyhawk Security Agency, said he rushed to where he thought a gun was fired and saw Reyes slumped on the ground, bleeding.

He helped Reyes’ two sons, Recorba and a caretaker identified only as Tomas carry the bleeding former official to his car.

Cemetery worker Lowie Abilong, 43, said he saw Reyes’ companions rushing to him after hearing a gunshot.

Roberto Elicanal, 48, was cutting grass several meters away from Reyes when he heard a gunshot and saw Reyes fall. He said Reyes’ companions were shouting for help.

“He used to be accompanied by several bodyguards, but this time they were only five,” Elicanal said in Filipino.

Lourdes Ocampo, a caretaker at the Loyola Memorial Park, said Reyes also visited his parents’ graves last Monday morning. Ocampo said she found this unusual since Reyes was not a frequent visitor at the graves.

“They (Reyes companions) rushed back to Gen. Reyes when they heard the gunshot. I tried to help them but stopped when I saw him bloodied,” she said. Reyes fell a few meters from a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she said.

A trail of blood from the site where Reyes fell to the road where his car had parked could be seen after the incident. His blood was splattered on his mother’s grave.

No autopsy

National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Nicanor Bartolome said the family of Reyes waived the autopsy procedure on his body. “The family also asked for privacy and we would respect that,” Bartolome said.

“We have not taken the statements of family members because of their request,” Bartolome added.

“If they continue to remain silent, we would continue to respect that,” he added.

Bartolome said Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered an empty caliber .45 automatic pistol shell.

Bartolome created a special task force headed by Chief Superintendent Francisco Manalo, director of the Eastern Police District (EPD), to determine whether Reyes really committed suicide. But Manalo, former chief of the crime laboratory in Camp Crame, said their investigation would likely go nowhere because of the statement of Recorba that Reyes’ wound was “self-inflicted.”

Bartolome also said they were not in possession of the weapon used by Reyes or his mobile phone. He also said Reyes left no suicide note, at least based on initial investigation.

A check with the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) of the Philippine National Police revealed that Reyes had eight firearms registered in his name.

When told of reports that Reyes was talking agitatedly to somebody on his mobile phone shortly before shooting himself, Manalo said “we have not received that report.”

National Bureau of Investigation director Magtanggol Gatdula, for his part, said they might conduct their own investigation into Reyes’ death but said an autopsy would be performed “only if there is a request from his family” or upon instruction from higher authorities. 

Visit from former boss

Reyes’ loved ones let out their grief and anger to Mrs. Arroyo who was among the first to visit him at the hospital.

His son Mark was most vocal, saying his father did not deserve to die in such a way.

“My father is a good man. He is my idol,” a staff quoted a grieving and indignant Mark as saying.

His youngest son Judd was in shock and would not leave his father’s bedside, said a family friend.

Another son Carlo was “walking aimlessly” while receiving phone calls.

Reyes’ widow Teresita could not hide her emotions as she recounted to Mrs. Arroyo, now a Pampanga congresswoman, how the allegations against her late husband broke his will.

“Meron akong sariling pera (I have my own money),” a staff quoted Mrs. Reyes as telling Arroyo. Mrs. Reyes is into real estate. She is being accused of jet-setting using funds from the military.

Another early visitor was former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor. Defensor was Reyes’ predecessor at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Both Arroyo and Defensor refused to be interviewed.

According to a close friend, Reyes, before leaving for the cemetery yesterday morning, hugged his wife and told her to look after the youngest of their five sons – Carlo and Judd.

While at the cemetery, Reyes again called up Mrs. Reyes and gave her the same instruction.

The former AFP chief was tense in the past few days and would often ask family members to keep him company as he might inflict harm on himself. – With Christina Mendez, Reinir Padua, Alexis Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sndy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano, AP, video taken by Dennis Carcamo