Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
A nun I know very well keeps a photo of her grade school class to which she and former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Angelo T. Reyes belonged. Reyes, she told me, was a big, bright kid, one of the good boys who would walk her home after class hours. They became tinikling partners in Grace 5.
Unbearable pain of betrayal. Unbearable pain of exposure. Failure. Humiliation. Rejection. Defeat. Shame. Guilt. These are just a few factors that are casually cited as reasons why people kill themselves. But suicide is not as simple as cause and effect, experts say.
Whatever it was precisely that pushed former AFP chief and four-time cabinet secretary Reyes to pull the trigger on himself two days ago we will never know for sure. All of the above? Those who had been watching last week’s hearings at the Senate and saw Reyes so suddenly and so publicly put on the spot and made to categorically admit or deny his receiving millions of pesos taken from military coffers would surely say that the process that Reyes went through was indeed humiliating.
Humiliating because the question was suddenly sprung on him, so humiliating because it took Reyes some time to compose himself and say yes or no. Humiliating because he is known to have had great accomplishments as a military man and government official, then suddenly his integrity was being questioned. The onus was on him and he was being put alongside alleged crooks in the military, multi-millionaire Gen. Carlos F. Garcia among them. And Reyes’ main accuser was no other than his own subordinate in the service and his kumpare, Lt. Col. George Rabusa of the military’s budget department.
How much could a man take? And is suicide the only option? Why should a much decorated general crumble because of allegations? Why must he succumb when there was yet no case filed against him? Did he fear the outcomes? Did he think killing himself would uphold his honor and protect his family? Would ending it all put a stop to the investigations and protect the military institution that he had served?
I thought Garcia was the more likely candidate for suicide given the piles of damning evidence that support the plunder charge against him. But obviously, Garcia would rather resort to a plea bargain, that is, plead guilty to a lesser crime, than kill himself. It was, in fact, his plea bargain so easily granted by the Office of the Ombudsman that riled the lawmakers who then called for an investigation.
From out of the Pandora’s box that was flung open by the Garcia plunder case was the accusation against Reyes. Bolstered by former government auditor Heidi Mendoza’s expose, the not-so-hidden rot in the military establishment was being forced out into the open. Reyes who had served the Arroyo administration and was no longer in government service became fair game.
Reyes’ elder and defender, retired Commodore Rex Robles makes it appear as if Reyes was singled out for the slaughter. As in, why him only? People expect more to be revealed so Reyes’ supporters shouldn’t think he was meant to take all the arrows by his lonesome. Sure, some of Reyes’ senate investigators who might have had an axe to grind against him could not suppress their delight in pushing him to the wall. But this does not mean that Rabusa’s expose should be ignored. It is just the tip of the iceberg.
To portray Reyes at this time as a sacrificial lamb that chose death over dishonor would make the investigations look as if some lawmakers are merely out to settle scores. Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile stressed that while he felt sad about his friend’s demise, “I must uphold the right of the Senate to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation.” Giving up this prerogative, he said, may lead to a breakdown of “this government, this nation, this institution.”
In other words, the investigation is not for bleeding hearts. Even Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who had herself experienced suicide in her family said plainly that, yes, with death, Reyes’ liability has been extinguished, but his family is not yet off the hook.
Sen. Gregorio Honasan hs proposed closed-door investigations for sensitive cases so as not to unduly expose suspects to public humiliation and tarnish their reputation, suspects who might turn out innocent after all. It is plain to see that the manner of questioning in investigations leaves much to be desired. So much browbeating, verbal bullying and threatening. Can’t these lawmakers speak softly and carry a big stick?
The blame game in suicide cases is to be expected but is off the mark. Those who do not know better tend to assign blame or, afflicted with guilt, they think that death could have been prevented, if only... But suicide is more complicated than we think. A psychotherapist I know well had told me that “there are many factors that combine and interact and we have to know how they work together…” I quoted her in a piece I wrote about a poverty-stricken girl who hanged herself and who was being lionized in the media as a martyr-hero. Poverty, it turned out, was not necessarily the triggering factor.
No one expected Reyes, a soldier to the core, to immediately capitulate to that first beating at the senate investigation. There is more to his suicide than meets the eye. Reyes chose to bring what he knew to his grave but, sadly, he leaves his family, whom he sought to protect, to fend for themselves and face the music.
It was early morning. The general aimed his gun at his heart and ended his life at the resting place of his parents, his blood splattering on the marble slab on his beloved Mamang’s grave. What did Reyes intend these to mean?
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