SC junks bid of late Angelo Reyes to sit as party-list nominee

The Supreme Court (SC), taking into consideration the death of the former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, junked the late Angelo Reyes' petition to be considered as the first nominee of the party-list group 1-UTAK. "The petition has been considered closed and terminated," said SC spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez at a news briefing on Tuesday. Marquez had earlier case that the SC renders a petition as moot depending "on what capacity a petitioner is filing a case." In the former Defense secretary's case, he filed the petition on his personal capacity. In 2010, Reyes left his post as Energy secretary to run as 1-UTAK (1-United Transport Coalition) party-list representative in the May 2010 polls. The group later withdrew Reyes' nomination as its representative. In September last year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also disqualified Reyes' as the group's first nominee. The following month, Reyes asked the SC to make him eligible as first nominee of the group. He asked the high court to prevent the Comelec from enforcing its September resolution that disqualified him. Reyes took his own life last February 8, only weeks after he was accused of receiving millions during his stint as Armed Forces of the Philippines' chief of staff. He also allegedly received a P50-million pabaon (send-off money) when he retired from military service in 2001. Before he died, Reyes was supposed to be interviewed by veteran journalist Malou Mangahas of the philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). In his last words that were supposed to be shared to PCIJ, Reyes said that he merely walked into corruption in the military and that he would rather die than live without dignity. – VVP, GMA News