ANGELO Tomas Reyes, 65, entered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1962 and graduated second lieutenant in the top 10 of his class in 1966.
As a young officer, Reyes started his military career as team leader of the Army’s Special Forces and completed mostly the required career path of an officer in Mindanao.
He was born on March 17, 1945, in San Miguel, Manila, to Pablo S. Reyes of Binangonan, Rizal, and Purificacion Tomas of Malate, Manila.
He spent most of his childhood in San Miguel, Manila, and completed his secondary schooling at the Cubao High School in 1960, where he graduated class valedictorian.
After graduating from the PMA in Baguio City, he proceeded to acquire two masteral degrees: Masters in Business Administration from Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in 1973 and Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1991. He also took up an International Defense Management Course in Monterey, California, in 1983. In 1987 he graduated No. 1 in a 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 Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
He became the commanding general of the Philippine Army, which propelled him to the top post of the Philippine Military as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
As chief of staff, he worked toward the “Vision of a 21st-century Armed Forces….that is fully mission-effective, progressively efficient, technology-driven, versatile, responsive to change, and composed of soldiers who are visible role models to the Filipino people.”
On January 19, 2001, General Reyes played a key role in leading the entire Armed Forces in swinging support behind regime change—from the embattled administration of President Joseph Estrada to then-Vice President Gloria Arroyo.
Barely two days after his retirement as the 27th military chief, he was sworn into office as the 23rd secretary of National Defense, concurrently chairing the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
At the Department of National Defense, he sought to shape a “technology-driven defense establishment” that can better respond to fast-changing security challenges posed by ever more creative means for global terrorism. He pushed the crafting of the National Internal Security Plan now being implemented by the government in addressing the root causes of insurgency through poverty alleviation, delivery of basic services and empowerment of local governments.
As NDCC chairman, he campaigned for preservation of lives and property through individual preparedness and responsiveness. He advocated a trimedia information campaign program dubbed “First Defense,” which proved effective in educating individuals and families on how to be self-reliant in times of disaster.
On August 29, 2003, Reyes stepped down from his post as Defense secretary, but was later named Antikidnapping Presidential Adviser on October 26, 2003, after President Arroyo signed Executive Order (EO) 248, creating the Office of the Antikidnapping Presidential Adviser, and subsequently, the National Antikidnapping Task Force (Naktf), to address the problem of kidnapping in the country and to demonstrate the government’s resolve to eradicate this menace. Under him, the Task Force neutralized the top Kidnap-for-Ransom Gang on the Naktf order of battle, in his few short weeks in office.
Barely five months after Naktf was created, Reyes had a new appointment, as the Presidential Adviser on antismuggling on March 10, 2004, by virtue of EO 297. He headed the National Antismuggling Task Force.
Throughout his career, Reyes received various awards and decorations from military and civilian institutions—among others, the Philippine Legion of Honor, AFP Distinguished Service Star, Military Merit Medals, Antidissidence 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 the Most Outstanding Project Chairman by the Philippine Jaycees for Project “The Youth Speaks” in 1981. That same project was later adjudged 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 socioeconomic project in rural areas.) He was named the Most Outstanding Alumnus of the AIM in 1982 and Most Outstanding PMA Alumnus (Cavalier Award for Public Administration) in 2001.
