Truth. Honor. Proper Duty

What honor is there in a man who has little faith in truth and who could not defend himself with it?

Certainly, serious and grave accusations were thrown at former AFP Chief Angelo Reyes in relation to the Gen. Carlos Garcia Plunder Case. But all he had to do was answer his accusers honestly and expose their lies where he found them. Instead he cried persecution and put a hole through his heart.

The fallen General had a chance to help liberate our country from the claws of plunder politics and to save the military institution he said he so loved -an institution now tarnished and eroded by heinous corruption allegedly of its own leaders. This he could have done by simply telling what he knew, by coming out clean. Instead, he embraced the code of omerta preferring to bring his secrets to the grave. Only the mafia types - the guilty, the tainted and the opportunists would have been fortified by this.

I respect the grief of the General's family, friends and followers. Since the General died without taint of conviction by our courts, I concede that he deserves the rituals and honors the State accord to the rank that he has attained. But I reject the proposition that there was anything heroic and honorable in his final act

Truth is the only basis of honor and honor is not diminished by mere insults or by breach of rituals and traditions. Thus the recourse to end one's life can not be justified. Unfortunately, the General for reasons known only to him had thought it best to bury the truth with him.

Now all we know is that the General is as dead as the many valiant soldiers who died fighting for the country with inadequate support and equipment, robbed and betrayed by their own leaders. How can we honor these soldiers without first giving them justice? How can we save an institution without first knowing the full extent of its rot?

The day we learn to honor our true heroes is the day we decide to become truly free.

I can not grieve for General Reyes. I grieve for my country.