Senator Antonio Trillanes MANILA, Philippines - Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1995, faces punishment from his fellow PMA graduates for humiliating a senior officer—late former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Angelo “Angie” Reyes—during a recent Senate inquiry.
“Even some of his [Trillanes] classmates did not like what he did to Angie Reyes,” they will go with punishing the senator, another former military chief of staff—Gen. Dionisio Santiago—told editors and reporters of The Manila Times during an exclusive roundtable on Monday.
It was not clear, though, what the punishment would be.
According to Santiago, many of the cavaliers or PMA alumni would shy away from Trillanes as a sign of protest to the alleged arrogance he displayed against Reyes, a member of PMA Class of 1966, when the former Armed Forces chief appeared on January 27 before the Senate blue ribbon committee.
It was during the same Senate inquiry that retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, a former military budget officer, disclosed that Reyes got P50 million in “pabaon” or send-off money when he retired on March 2001 besides the P5 million in monthly payola while serving as military chief of staff.
Twelve days after he was implicated in the alleged corruption in the Armed Forces, Reyes, apparently unable to bear the stigma and the damage inflicted on his integrity after he was linked to wrongdoing in the Armed Forces, was reported to have taken his own life right in front of the graves of his parents at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City (Metro Manila).
During the Senate hearing, Reyes asked the chairman of the committee that he be allowed pose questions at his accuser because his reputation was at stake.
But Trillanes interrupted, saying, “No, no, no, you don’t have any reputation to protect,” and telling Reyes to get a good lawyer instead.
Many senior PMA graduates detested Trillanes demeanor against a fellow cavalier.
Another former Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, has described Trillanes as arrogant, saying, “Masyadong mayabang ang batang ito [This young man is arrogant].”
Retired Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig expressed belief that the humiliation inflicted by Trillanes on Reyes might have pushed the latter to the edge.
The superintendent of the PMA, Vice Admiral Leoanrdo Calderon, also described Trillanes behavior as “uncavalier,” in violation of the PMA code on how to treat senior officers.
“Our core values in the PMA are integrity and loyalty. We also teach them [cadets] honor and respect. My comment is that definitely, this is very uncavalier-like. As an alumnus, I am grieved that a junior officer would say that to a senior officer and a very honorable man,” Calderon said of Reyes during an ABS-CBN Umagang Kay Ganda interview.
Despite the criticisms, Trillanes also on Monday said that he did not regret what he did to Reyes.
“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t regret anything in life because that’s the only key where I can move on, but I do learn lessons in life. Negative experiences can bring out lessons and I learn from that. Looking back, that’s how destiny played for us. That encounter, no matter how unfortunate it looks now in hindsight, there’s no going around it anymore. We just have to live with that,” Trillanes told ANC. (William Depasupil - Manila Times)
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