Yesterday when I was browsing tweets from my Twitter homepage, I encountered an interesting tweet coming from Mark Zambrano, a known journalist in the Philippines. His tweet says "shivers. that's what I got after reading Angie Reyes's final words. Speechless as well". A link was also mentioned in the tweet, so with no hesitation I clicked the link and got redirected to another website where Sec. Angelo Reyes's final words were written.
The article's kinda long so I would not mention it's entirety in my blog post. The article was written by Malou Mangahas last February 12, 2011, few day after former AFP Chief-of -Staff and Sec. Angelo "Angie" Reyes committed suicide. Before his death, Sec. Reyes was accused of corruption after receiving millions of pesos from AFP fund.
Two days before he shot himself death last Feb. 06, 2011, here's what Sec. Angelo Reyes's thought regarding all the controversies thrown to him and his family.
Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself – Angie Reyes
“Honor, truth, justice. Honor above all else. Pride goes with it, self-respect, sense of legacy. This is very, very important to me. Sometimes, I am accused of being arrogant. I like to have plenty – a healthy sense – of self-esteem. I react to affronts on this.
There are two options available: to stonewall/fight the legal battle, or to come clean and make my own contribution to cleanse the system.
Stonewalling, I am told, would result in a long, protracted legal battle. However, past cases are not being resolved either way, kept in state of limbo. People’s memories are short and all this will eventually fade into public disinterest, and eventually oblivion. So, not to worry.
Coming clean, on the other hand, cannot be done without giving up something. I have decided to come clean, bare my heart and speak the truth. The truth can cut two ways: 1. If you are guiltless, you can embrace the truth and hope that it will protect you; 2. If you are not guiltless, speak the truth and it shall set you free.
I speak the truth not to whistle-blow or to seek neither immunity nor protection nor to escape from any form of liability. As a matter of fact, I speak the truth to accept responsibility for whatever liability I may have.
Honor is above all else. More valuable than freedom or even life itself. Therefore, honor must be guarded/defended with your life.
Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself.
Stonewalling would mean I would have to go on every day of my life or at least a large part of it under a cloud of public suspicion, at least until the case is resolved. Every day as you continue to live with the lie, you lose a little of your self-respect. And every day, as people look at you, you can read from their minds that they find you dishonorable, and you die a little. So if you stonewall – and you have the connections, resources and power to sustain it, and perhaps the thick face to endure it – that would be the preferred option. I have none of these, and so I choose the path of honor.
My honor has been attacked and damaged. I still have a lot of pride and self-respect, and I’d like to come clean to preserve whatever honor is left.
We see plenty of people walking around who have been clearly disgraced in the eyes of the people, and I do not want to join their ranks.
I think if you want to cleanse the system and for there to be justice, it should be applied equally and well. Our experience has shown that those with position and power, support and connection invariably go scot-free. I don’t have any of these.
It is unfortunate that we have a huge canvass here of which, I admit, I have been a part; unfortunately, people are now inclined to make me the face of that problem for their own various reasons.
When I participated in EDSA II, even then I anticipated that something like this would happen when I made enemies both on a personal and official level. In my long years of service, I knew that I would have to come to terms with this enmity some day.
I might not be guiltless/faultless, but I am not as evil as some would like to portray.
To my friends and those who have known me and believed in me, I honestly believe I did not let you down.
I want to assure the (PMA) cadet corps, current and future, that there are plenty of military professionals who have served and will continue to serve the country well. Do not be disheartened by this turn of events. Yours is a noble profession (of arms), and you should feel no shame. I have tried to live with integrity, loyalty, and courage.
In my 48 years of public service, I have tried to live up to the highest levels of professionalism and integrity. Whether it’s my assignment with the AFP-RSBS or with the Anti-Smuggling Task Force, I never received any offers of bribes; in fact, I returned them. In all my assignments, 39 years in the military and 9 years in four different Cabinet positions, I have never had any favorite supplier. Neither have I ever extorted money nor set any financial precondition for the approval of any contract. I can honestly say that I served honestly and well.
We are now in the situation where my honor and the family name are at stake. My family, my children, my grandchildren could say with a lot of truthfulness and pride that in the family, we value honor and integrity. Strength to live it and the courage to face up to the truth. This is the legacy I would like to leave with them.
Honor, truth, but there must be justice. And justice can be served if laws are applied evenly and well – not favoring the rich and powerful. I hope my case/situation will not be used as something that would bring closure to the issue of military corruption. The fight to reform the system and the entire country must continue; the sad part is that they are selectively targeting individuals and institutions.
I did not invent corruption. I walked into it. Perhaps my first fault was in having accepted aspects of it as a fact of life.
While I am familiar with finance, I must admit I had scant knowledge of military comptrollership. Personally, zero experience. Never been assigned as disbursement officer, etc., no stint. It’s a military field of specialization that I do not have.
No system is perfect. The AFP system needs a lot of systemic solutions…And the same might be true of some other institutions.
Tinyente pa ako, ganyan na ang sistema (i.e., “conversion" system, etc.)… I can perhaps be faulted for presuming regularity in a grossly imperfect system. As CS (chief of staff), a big landscape, presume regularity, convenient to ignore it, accept it as part of the system. It’s easy to say, institute reforms after the problems have erupted.
I joined EDSA II at great risk. Jumped into a void. Coming from a place that was high and comfortable. Without any regard for compensation or recognition or reward. I thought what I did – being loyal to the Flag and putting the national interest above all else – a right, but I was faulted for not being loyal to the commander-in-chief, that I should have stuck with him to the end, however that end might be. I stuck it out with the GMA administration for 9 years, not under the banner of loyalty; I could have deserted GMA, but I did not want to be branded as someone who abandoned his superiors…"
When we participated in many military campaigns, I would like to think that I showed courage…"
– PCIJ, February 2011
For the complete article written by Malou Mangahas, you may visit this following links:
Article Source: http://www.gmanews.tv
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