Angelo Reyes sons decry ‘grossly inaccurate’ reports

UPDATED 2:30 p.m. – Breaking the family’s silence, the five sons of former Armed Forces chief of staff Angelo Reyes on Wednesday described news reports about their embattled father as “grossly inaccurate" accounts that he had to endure as a public servant. Witnesses and police reports said Reyes died after shooting himself in the chest in front of his mother’s grave Tuesday, hours before he was scheduled to appear before a House hearing on alleged military corruption. "For the past few years, many different people have spoken and written about our father, Angelo T. Reyes, in newspapers, television, radio, and public gatherings," said the statement signed by Bogie, Jett, Marc, Carlo, and Judd Reyes.
"Unfortunately, some of these accounts have been grossly inaccurate, terribly unfair and downright vicious. We suppose that's part of the price a public servant has to pay," they said. "To us, his children, he is and will forever be, our idol — and no amount of ridiculous rumors, intrigues, and accusations...will ever change that," the joint statement said. On Tuesday, after shooting himself at the memorial park, Reyes was rushed to a Quezon City hospital but doctors failed to revive him. He was officially pronounced dead at 8:32 a.m. on February 8, which happens to be the birthday of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Two weeks ago, former military financial officer George Rabusa accused Reyes of receiving a "pabaon" (send-off money) of P50 million from military funds when he retired as military chief. Reyes' sons said, "it pains us greatly that a good and kind-hearted man like our Papa can be maligned so casually." "The Real Thing" Reyes' sons described their father, known to friends as "Angie," as "The Real Thing." They recalled how their father, despite his many achievements, remained a "simple person." "He was a dedicated soldier for 39 years, putting God and country above self but not once did he forget to call his wife and children every single day," they said. "He is known to demand the best from his subordinates...but finds contentment in eating corned beef, monggo, and sardines," Reyes' sons said. "He is the nemesis of kidnappers, drug dealers, smugglers, and terrorists but is helpless as his granddaughter puts lipstick on him," they revealed. Instrumental in EDSA II Reyes' sons also recalled how their father was instrumental in "EDSA II" or the so-called "Second People Power Revolution" in 2001 that peacefully overthrew then President Joseph Estrada and installed former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to power. Military top brass, led by Reyes, then Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, withdrew their support for Estrada, whose alleged involvement in jueteng triggered days of mass street demonstrations in front of the EDSA Shrine along EDSA in Quezon City. "He was instrumental in EDSA II where he had to withdraw support from President Estrada for the higher interest of the nation," Reyes' sons said. Under Arroyo's tenure, Reyes served as Defense Secretary from 2001 to 2003, then as Interior Secretary from 2004 to 2006, and later as Energy Secretary from 2007 to 2010. "He was a political appointee but never participated in unproductive political bickering. He never spoke ill of anyone in public, not even those who have openly or secretly attacked him," Reyes' sons said. Devoted son Reyes was said to have been a devoted son to his mother. "He is one of the busiest and hardest-working Cabinet members but always finds time to visit his 95-year-old mother almost everyday and take her out to dinner on weekends when she was still alive," Reyes' sons said. Reyes was said to have been a frequent visitor at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City where he often pays his respects to his deceased parents. According to a GMA News Flash Report by John Consulta on Tuesday, Feliciano Recorba, a maintenance supervisor at the memorial park, executed a two-page sworn statement detailing how Reyes shot himself. In his account, Recorba said he saw Reyes draw a gun and shoot himself on the left side of his body. "Kitang-kita kong nagbaril siya sa kanyang sarili dahil mga 20 hakbang lang ang layo ko sa kanya," he said. (I saw clearly how he shot himself because I was just 20 paces away from him.) A radio report said those recovered from the crime scene were an empty shell of a .45-caliber pistol and a copy of "Trump: The Art of the Deal," a book by American business magnate Donald Trump, said to be one of Reyes' favorite authors. Newsbreak: Reyes was depressed In a report released on Tuesday, the online news magazine Newsbreak said Reyes was depressed days before he took his own life. Reyes reportedly told his longtime friend and Philippine Military Academy (PMA) upperclassman, retired Navy Commodore Rex Robles, over and over again, "Wala na ito, pare." The report said Reyes felt the die was cast and that the ongoing inquiry would not just drag the military but his entire family down. Catholic burial Even if he is believed to have committed suicide, Reyes may get a Catholic burial if a bishop will allow it. Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a Canon Law expert said "Now, the Church is more understanding because in this state of mind that is so confused and depressed then he is not himself ..." "People who are no longer in the right senses because of very serious difficulties and big depression, etc. definitely will be very hard to say they were themselves when they took their life," Cruz said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. With the advancement in psychiatric sciences, he said there is a growing presumption that when people commit suicide “they are not themselves." Cruz said that in the past, people who committed suicides were not given Catholic burials and no Masses were celebrated for them. Activist priest Jose Dizon, however, clarified that only a bishop can decide whether or not Reyes can be given a Catholic burial. In an article posted on the Union of Catholic Asian News website,Dizon cited the case of a politician who was denied Catholic rites by a bishop for being a Mason. He said Lucena (Quezon) Bishop Emilio Marquez refused to give the late governor Rafael Nantes a Catholic burial for being a “born-again Christian" and a Mason who did not repent. “Canon 1184 states, that Church funeral rites are to be denied to ‘notorious apostates, heretics and schismatics’ unless they showed some signs of repentance before death," the UCAN quoted Marquez as saying. Paying their respects Arroyo, former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and members of Arroyo's former Cabinet paid their respects to Reyes at the Ascension Columbary along Araneta Avenue in Quezon City on Tuesday. The other Arroyo Cabinet officials who visited Reyes' wake included secretaries Esperanza Cabral (health), Agnes Devanadera (justice) and Norberto Gonzales Jr. (national security adviser), and former socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri. – with Veronica Pulumbarit, MRT, GMA News