Angelo Reyes

Angelo Tomás Reyes (March 17, 1945 – February 8, 2011) was the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2001 under President Joseph Estrada. At the height of the 2001 EDSA Revolution, Reyes withdrew his support for Estrada which led to the installation of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president, under whom he then served as cabinet secretary until to 2010, including with the portfolios of National Defense and Energy.

Reyes ran for Congress under the United Transport Coalition (1-UTAK), a party representing workers in the public transportation sector, on the 2010 party-list election but was dropped by his party without his consent that led to litigation which was still ongoing at the time of his death. A week after being accused of corruption while being AFP chief of staff, Reyes died due to a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide.

Reyes was married to Teresita P. Reyes with whom he has five sons, Pablo, Angelito, Marc, Carlo and Judd.

Education
Reyes spent most of his childhood in San Miguel, Manila. He completed his secondary education at the Cubao High School (now Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School) in 1960 where he graduated as the class valedictorian. In 1966, he was among the top ten graduates of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City. He then proceeded to acquire two masters degrees, namely: Masters in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management in 1973 and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1994. He also took up International Defense Management Course in Monterey, California in 1983. In 1987, he graduated No. 1 in Trust Operations Management Course conducted by the Trust Institutes Foundation of the Philippines at the Ateneo Business School which eventually earned him a scholarship to the Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.

Military career
Angelo Reyes began his military career as a team leader in the Philippine Army's 1st Special Forces Airborne Regiment. He spent his field command duties as battalion commander, brigade commander, and area commander in Mindanao where he gained experience in addressing the threats from the communist insurgency and Muslim secessionism in the Philippines. He became the Commanding General of the Philippine Army which then propelled him to the top post of the Philippine military as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

As AFP Chief of Staff, he worked towards the vision of a modern Armed Forces of the Philippines. On January 19, 2001, the then-General Reyes withdrew support from President Joseph Estrada, leading to his ouster. Reyes held the following positions in the Philippine Army and in the top brass of Armed Forces of the Philippines, garnering various military medals and citations throughout his 39-year military career until he retired in 2001:


 * Team leader, Special Forces Group PA (Airborne);
 * Commanding officer (CO), 4th Infantry Battalion PA, Zamboanga;
 * CO, 602nd Infantry Brigade PA, Davao provinces;
 * Commanding General (CG), Civil Relations Service AFP;
 * Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, J2 AFP;
 * CG, 5th Infantry Division PA, covering Northeastern Luzon;
 * CG, Southern Command AFP, covering the whole of Mindanao;
 * CG, PA; and
 * Chief of Staff, AFP

Secretary of Defense
Reyes was sworn as national defense secretary two days after retiring as the AFP's 27th chief of staff. In concurrent capacity, he also chaired the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Under his leadership, he was able to imbibe a culture of excellence at the department of national defense and transformed it into a technology-driven defense establishment making it more responsive to the challenges o rapidly changing security establishment amidst the rising trend in global terrorism, He was instrumental in crafting the National Internal Security Plan which is now being implemented by the government in addressing the root causes of insurgency through poverty alleviation, delivery of basic services and empowerment of the local government.

As chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, he campaigned for preservation of lives and property through individual preparedness and responsiveness. He ventured on a tri-media information campaign program dubbed “FIRST DEFENSE” which was proven effective in educating individuals and families on how to be self-reliant in times of disasters and calamities.

Reyes stepped down as defense secretary on August 29, 2003, but was later named Anti-Kidnapping Presidential Adviser on October 26, 2003, after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order Number 248 creating the Office of the Anti-Kidnapping Presidential Adviser, and subsequently, the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF) to address the problem of kidnapping in the country. His installation as anti-kidnapping czar resulted in the neutralization of certain kidnap-for-ransom gangs.

Reyes was later appointed as the Presidential Adviser on Anti-Smuggling on March 10, 2004 by virtue of Executive Order Number 297 to orchestrate and oversee a consolidated national anti-smuggling campaign.

Throughout his career, Secretary Reyes received various awards and decorations from both the military and civilian institutions. He was a recipient of the Philippine Legion of Honor, AFP Distinguished Service Star, Military Merit Medals, Anti-Dissidence Campaign Ribbons and other Philippine military decorations. He was awarded the Order of the White Elephant by King Bhumibol of Thailand and the Order of Valor by the King of Malaysia.

As a civic leader, he was chosen as the Most Outstanding Project Chairman by the Philippine Jaycees for Project “The Youth Speaks” in 1981. That same project was later adjudged as the Most Outstanding External Affairs Project in the World during the Jaycees World Convention in Germany in 1991. In 1991, he was given the honor of being a Kabisig Awardee for his Project: Common Cause, Uncommon Zeal”. (KABISIG is a nationwide government socio-economic project in rural areas). With all these accomplishments, he was named the Most Outstanding Alumnus of the Asian Institute of Management in 1982 and Most Outstanding PMA Alumnus (Cavalier Award for Public Administration) in 2001.



Secretary of Interior and Local Government
Reyes was Philippine Secretary of Interior and Local Government in the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2004 to 2006.

Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources
Reyes was Philippine Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources in the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2006 to 2007.

Secretary of Energy
Reyes was Philippine Secretary of Energy in the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2007 to 2010.

On January 29, 2008, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes announced that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 8-man team led by Akira Omoto inspected the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant on rehabilitation prospects. The team members were Zhang Jing, IAEA section head for Asia and the Pacific; Ki Sig Tang, technical officer at the nuclear division; David Greaves and Eric Weinstein; 3 independent experts: John Rames, an expert on legal infrastructure from Australia; Jose E. Brayner, Costa Mattos, a nuclear power expert from Brazil; and Ioan Rotaru, a nuclear power expert from Romania."

As the Energy Chief, Reyes promoted, spearheaded numerous successful projects that defined, created and stabilized the country's energy supply and security. At the time when the global crude oil spiked to its record highs, Reyes did an excellent job as the energy chief by implementing various programs to assist consumers adjust to the new cost of gas and other fuels at the pump. He also re-launched the Compressed Natural Gas Program and issued the only Government Accreditation to Callandra LCNG Fuels Corporation.

Corruption allegations and death
On January 27, 2011, former Lt. Col. George Rabusa, who was budget officer when Reyes was Armed Forces chief, testified before a Senate panel and accused Reyes of receiving P50 million in "send-off" money when he retired from the Armed Forces, as part of a decades-old military tradition. Reyes denied receiving such funds for his own use and sought to cross-examine Rabusa, but was refused the opportunity. Reyes then did not attend subsequent hearings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

On the morning of February 8, 2011, Reyes, together with two of his sons and a bodyguard, visited his mother's grave at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina. He asked his children and bodyguard to go ahead and wait for him in the car, before shooting himself in the left side of the chest near the heart. He was rushed to Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, but was declared dead on arrival and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Reyes was buried on February 13, 2011 with full military honours at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery) in Makati.