QWANZ

A former military chief accused of embezzling at least $1 million from the armed forces died of a gunshot wound Tuesday in what witnesses described as an apparent suicide at his mother's grave....   >>>

A former military chief accused of embezzling at least $1 million from the armed forces died of a gunshot wound Tuesday in what witnesses described as an apparent suicide at his mother's grave.



Retired Gen. Angelo Reyes was pronounced dead on arrival in a Manila hospital from a single gunshot wound in the chest after visiting the grave, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said in a news conference broadcast nationwide.



Ona refused to immediately confirm that Reyes had committed suicide, saying he was awaiting autopsy results.



Witnesses interviewed by DZBB radio station at the cemetery said they saw Reyes send his children to his car before a single shot rang out.



Reyes headed the military from 2001 to 2003 and was recently accused in a high-profile congressional hearing of pocketing money from the armed forces. Corruption is an explosive issue in the inadequately equipped and poorly paid 120,000-strong military that has sparked several insurrections in the last two decades by disgruntled soldiers.



In startling testimony that started last month, retired military budget officer Col. George Rabusa claimed that huge amounts had been diverted from key military units into a kitty for all kinds of illegal payoffs.



Among the recipients of the unaudited payoffs were past military chiefs of staff who each month collected millions of pesos (tens of thousands of dollars) for personal use plus huge "send-off" payments when they retired, he said.



Rabusa alleged that Reyes, who had attended the hearing, was among the recipients of the payoffs, which had to be converted into dollars because the peso equivalent was too bulky.



**The excerpt above is taken from the NYT article, "Philippine General Dead of Gunshot" as reported by the Associated Press, which is linked below. Do click through to read more about this issue.**