First, I can’t even begin to fathom the pain being suffered by Sec. Angelo Reyes’s family and friends. He is a husband to a wife. A father to his children. A senior “mistah” to fellow officers. Certainly, no one, least of all family members, should endure this kind of a tragedy.
And while indeed it is a tragic event and deeply painful for Sec. Reyes’s family, I think it is equally tragic for many Filipinos, that, in the midst of the recent allegations of corruption and explosive testimonies implicating high ranking members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the truth about Sec. Reyes's role may never come to full light.
His sudden death is so preemptive and takes so much away from the pursuit of accepted norms—legal or otherwise: “Innocent until proven guilty”; “right to face your accuser”; and more importantly “truth in the name of justice.”
A friend of mine wrote, “To be an officer takes at least four years.... to be a gentleman is really hard...” This reminded me of Jack Nicholson’s character Col. Nathan R. Jessep in the Rob Reiner film “A Few Good Men”, hollering from the witness stand “You can’t handle the truth!”
And for me that is where the tragedy lies. Never mind “handling the truth”. I, like many Filipinos just probably want to KNOW and LEARN the truth.
Now, the wives of the generals have been asked or about to be asked to testify before congress to help shed light to the charges of corruption. I work 10, 11 hours daily. Some of my hard-earned money I give to my parents for food, housing, medicines and other living expenses. I have not even bought at any point in my life, a television set. Many of us could not even make sense of what one million pesos is, let alone 50 million or 150 million.
And these wives (apparently/allegedly) have properties abroad and travel extensively. I think I speak for many others like me when I say “Why go and explain to congress?”
And why we all contemplate on the suddenness and the sadness of Sec. Reyes’s death, I invite these wives and their children to any venue—at a plaza, a mall, on the street—to meet with me, and others like me, and to look straight in our eyes and say “We did not steal! We are not corrupt! Our wealth, we amassed, just like you by working hard and honestly for 10-11 hours a day!”
That’s the truth I, WE deserve. FOR I AM FATHER. I AM HUSBAND. I AM SON... And I and many Filipinos, are forced to endure our own daily “tragedies”... because there is no truth... there is no justice.
Calling on all honest workers—fathers, mothers, sons, daughters... in this age of the Internet.. time to EYEBALL those involved or named in this corruption scandal. We shouted before “TAMA NA! SOBRA NA! PALITAN NA!”. We can still DEMAND that again... and the street is always there for us for the taking!
