Trigger to reforms

The tragic end of an erstwhile powerful figure like Angelo T. Reyes who died in his own hands has undoubtedly caused shock, awe, disappointment and bewilderment to a lot of people, aside of course from the indescribable grief and heartache to his family, relatives and friends.

It is shocking and disappointing to those who have met and known him as somebody who does not give up so easily and who is gritty enough to not run away from any fight especially when it involves his own person and family. It is admirable and heroic to his fellow “mistahs” in the military because he purportedly preferred to take his own life to save the institution he has served well; and/or, would rather be dead than be caught by an alleged “enemy out to get him” at all cost.

It is stunning to those who thought all along that the eastern culture of sacrificing one’s life for the sake of one’s honor would never happen here. The prevailing notion and long held belief in this country is that only in Japan do public officials involved in scandalous acts commit hara kiri, or in Korea does an ex-President leap to his death from atop a mountain because he has been accused of being involved in shady deals. Hence, many were surprised and awed that it could also happen here when Reyes took his own life.

But it is more shocking, unexpected and hard to understand aside from being lamentable and heart rending to his family and loved ones because of our Christian Faith and culture that give the highest value to human life as the greatest gift of God who “alone is the ultimate Lord and Master of Life” (CFC 1032). Suicide is indeed one of the offenses against Life and a “terrible and unalterable act” showing a total loss of the will to survive that result from extreme depression and despair” (CCC 2280-83).

 Yet because of this Faith, his family and loved ones will also ultimately overcome their grief and have a healing of their heartaches. For it likewise tells us that “rather than being an act of deliberate malice, suicide most often seems to be some sort of “psychological short circuit” which involves running away from a life that has become “impossible”, and from a God who seems completely absent”. Hence much of the blame is not on the person taking his life but on society in general. (CFC 1040) With an ever loving and merciful God, his family and loved ones should just continue hoping and praying for God’s mercy and “grace that gives salvation to everyone” (Titus 2:11).

The end of Reyes’ life should not however end the probe on the anomalies that have been exposed so far. On the contrary, with more reason should they proceed to unearth the truth about the corruption in the Military. It need not be only in Congress where the numerous investigations in aid of legislation have so far been unfruitful and futile. And if these congressional investigations should proceed, they should be conducted in a more professional way without any grandstanding “in aid of election”. The hearing may still be public but care should be observed in preventing trial by publicity.

When Reyes chose death in the midst of the on-going Congressional investigations about the highly irregular “plea bargain” between the Ombudsman and former AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia, he did not leave any note or intimated to anybody his motives for doing so. He may have realized the futility of still fighting to defend his personal honor or he may have really been a victim of the corrupt system now in place such that he chose to die rather than bring dishonor to him and his family.

Whatever may be his motives, his tragic ending has exposed and confirmed the fact that drastic and wide ranging reforms are really needed in the entire government and not only in the military. It has shown how the kind of government now in place can destroy the life of any individual who choose a career in public service as exemplified by Reyes.

I first met Reyes when he was still a “nobody”, a young and idealistic officer. And my impression then was that he is a “straight guy” with a strong sense of right and wrong. Indeed like any other human being created by God, there is an inherent goodness in him because all of God’s creations are good. Since then we have not crossed paths anymore and I learned about his career in the military and in the civilian government, and his remarkable rise to power only in media. I really do not know how his public service career has affected his youthful idealism. But the manner he chose to end his life somehow validates once more, Lord Acton’s observation that “power corrupts” especially in our present system of government.

May be those now in public service, whether appointed or elected, should also pick up some lessons from Reyes’ tragic death. They should realize that “all the glory of this world passes” (sic transit glory mundi), so they should start a real and intense soul searching on how they are handling the power attached to their offices and how dedicated and responsible they are in performing their jobs. They should also keep in mind that sooner or later, the truth will come out, so they should resist all temptations to commit graft and corruption or if they are into some kind of shady deals already they should immediately desist and make reparations. In other words, honest to goodness reforms in government should start within themselves.

Perhaps this is also the most opportune time to look into entire system of government now in place not only in the military but in the entire civilian bureaucracy whether in the Executive, Legislative or Judiciary. Aside from promoting more transparency, public service should be streamlined in order to dismantle all breeding grounds of corruption and to remove all sources of temptations to commit graft. Most government offices still have long “red tapes” that force citizens to “fork over” some facilitation fee.

 So the trigger that Reyes pulled to kill himself should also trigger the drastic and wide ranging reform in government, promised by P-Noy.

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