Police 'end' probe of Reyes suicide

Finding no sign of foul play and citing the wishes of the grieving family for privacy, police on Wednesday declared the suicide of former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes a "closed case." But Metro Manila police chief Director Nicanor Bartolome said they may still ask the Reyes' family to turn over the handgun used in Tuesday's incident. "Based on statements we got from witnesses, only one shot was fired. And there was no indication of foul play. So, our investigators concluded [Reyes'] death was self-inflicted," Bartolome said in Filipino in an interview on dzBB radio. He also said the police will respect the wishes of Reyes' family not to conduct an autopsy or a paraffin test on the remains of the former Defense chief. When asked if they consider the case closed, Bartolome said, "lumalabas na ganoon, it's a case of a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Asked if the case is indeed closed, he said, "opo, opo (yes, yes)." On Tuesday, Reyes shot himself in front of his parents' graves at a memorial park in Marikina City. He was rushed to a Quezon City hospital but doctors could not revive him. At the time, Reyes was in the middle of a scandal involving a P50-million "pabaon" (sendoff cash gift), which he allegedly received when he retired as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff. Also, Bartolome said authorities may still ask Reyes' family to turn over the firearm used in the incident, once the situation calms down. He said they believe the firearm is with members of Reyes' family because only they were at the scene. "Last Tuesday, we did not ask the family for the gun because we respect their emotions and their privacy. We will wait until they have calmed down before making our request," he said. In a separate interview on dwIZ radio, Bartolome said they had to formally request the family for the firearm because its license is with the Philippine National Police's Firearms and Explosives Division (PNP-FED). "We have to ask to take custody of the firearm because it is licensed to Angelo Reyes. Since the licensed owner has died, the FED must take custody of the firearm," he said. On the other hand, Bartolome said no more autopsy will be done on Reyes because "his family waived it, so we will respect that." Cell phone Bartolome also said the police have yet to recover a cellular phone used by Reyes last Tuesday shortly before his death, but reiterated they will likely respect the wishes of his family for privacy. "In this case, the victim's family sought privacy and we will respect that," he said in the dzBB interview. Earlier reports had said Reyes received a cell phone call and appeared distraught shortly before he shot himself. — LBG, GMA News