Posted on February 08, 2011 11:48:47 PM
Ex-Armed Forces chief Reyes dead in apparent suicide
FORMER ARMED Forces chief Angelo T. Reyes, embroiled in a probe of alleged corruption in the military, died early morning yesterday in an apparent suicide. He was 65.
Mr. Reyes, instrumental in the 2001 ouster of then President Joseph E. Estrada and appointed to several Cabinet positions by Mr. Estrada’s successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the chest.
National Capital Region police chief Nicanor A. Bartolome told reporters that Mr. Reyes had apparently killed himself while visiting the grave of his mother inside Marikina’s Loyola Memorial Park.
"It appears from the statement of the witness, who was only 20 meters from the scene ... it was self-inflicted and there was no one around except his two family members and security," Mr. Bartolome said.
A .45 caliber pistol and a spent shell were recovered by police investigators.
Mr. Reyes, who was Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff from 2000 to 2001 and subsequently handled the Defense, Local Government, Environment and Energy portfolios, was last month accused of pocketing millions of pesos monthly while in office and receiving a P50-million sendoff when his military service ended.
The charges came as legislators probed a controversial plea deal entered into by the Office of the Ombudsman with a former military comptroller found guilty of graft.
According to an initial police report, Mr. Reyes went to the Loyola Memorial Park at around seven in the morning. He was rushed to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City where he was declared dead at 8:32 a.m.
"When he arrived, he no longer had blood pressure, he was cold and clammy and there were no vital signs anymore," Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona said in a press conference.
Messages of condolence were issued by Malacañang -- which has charged Mrs. Arroyo with allowing corruption to run rampant during her term -- legislators and business groups, among others.
The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), in a statement said: "Congress has to complete its investigation, craft new or improved anti-corruption measures, and recommend appropriate legal action against erring government officials. This is one way to ensure that Gen. Reyes’ death will not be in vain." MAP said.
Makati Business Club Executive Director Peter A. Perfecto said, "Like most of the community, we were shocked with the event, but right now what we are concerned with is for the hearings and investigations to continue because corruption is a key concern of the business community and it is what affects our competitiveness and the perception of the global community about doing business in the country," he said.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Francis C. Chua commended Mr. Reyes’s efforts in helping curb kidnapping when the business community asked for his help in 2004.
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