Aquino ends guessing game, visits Angelo Reyes' wake

UPDATED 5:30 p.m. - Immediately after arriving at the airport from Sulu, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Friday afternoon proceeded to Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City to pay his last respects to retired Gen. Angelo Reyes, who committed suicide on Tuesday, Aquino's birthday. At the height of Senate and House investigations on alleged military fund scams, Reyes, who was accused of receiving a P50-million "pabaon" (send-off money) shot himself in front of his parents' graves in Marikina City. On Friday, those who arrived with Aquino, who was clad in yellow and black polo shirt, were Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, and Aquino's running mate in the last presidential race, former Senator Mar Roxas. Aquino arrived from Sulu where he led relief operations for the victims of flash floods. It only took the President a little under 30 minutes to speak with the family and relatives of the deceased military official. Reporters were barred from getting near the President while he was speaking with the family. "My only purpose for going here is to condole with the family of Gen. Reyes," said Aquino later in his brief response to media before returning to his vehicle and leaving the military camp.
Asked by GMA News Online what Aquino and Reyes' family talked about, Pat Daza, who is speaking for the Reyes family, said she was not privy to their conversation but could only surmise that "it concerned private matters that they did not want to share with the public." The President had earlier expressed reluctance to visit Reyes' wake, saying he was never close to the retired general and at times clashed with him on oil-related issues. Apart from being appointed in the past as head of the Defense, Interior and Local Government, and Environment departments, Reyes also became Energy secretary and often had to bear the brunt of public outrage over rising oil prices. As Aquino was leaving the cathedral, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's former chief of staff Mike Defensor was spotted arriving and paying his last respects to Reyes. Earlier in the afternoon, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile also dropped by to condole with the family. – VVP, GMA News