MANILA, Philippines?The widow of Angelo ?Angie? Reyes said Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV?s turnaround the other day that Reyes was not the powerful person behind plunder suspect Carlos Garcia had come ?too late.?

?Why is he taking it back now?? Teresita Reyes told the Inquirer Friday night in reference to Trillanes? initial naming of her husband as the purported patron of Garcia, who is accused of plunder to the tune of P303 million.

She said Trillanes could have done so much earlier because her husband had often prodded the senator to name the powerful backer.

?Angie knew it was not him, and Trillanes knew it was not Angie. Would he have called on Trillanes to name the person if he knew it was him?? she said, adding that the senator made the accusation only to take it back after her husband took his life.

The widow confirmed the statement of retired Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig, a former superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy, that Trillanes? demeanor during a Senate hearing where her husband was present had deeply hurt him and his family.

Still, she said, she had forgiven Trillanes and others who had dishonored her husband in public. She said the large number of people coming to the wake for the former Armed Forces chief of staff was a vindication.

Asked if she would welcome Trillanes to the wake if he decided to come, she said: ?Better for him to come so that he?ll see for himself what he had done and the people who keep coming here, believing in Angie.?

On President Aquino?s visit earlier on Friday, she said her family was overwhelmed by and thankful for the gesture.

Hermogenes Esperon Jr., himself a former AFP chief, said he, too, was hurt by Trillanes? rude treatment of Reyes at the Senate hearing.

?Sobrang yabang ng batang ?yan (That young man is so arrogant),? Esperon said of Trillanes.

He said he was certain that Trillanes and company would drag him into the scandal involving the purported AFP slush fund because he had denounced the 2003 Oakwood mutiny of which the senator was one of the leaders, and objected to the grant of amnesty to rebel officers.

Esperon said he learned about Reyes? good deeds and concern for soldiers, especially those assigned to far-flung areas in Mindanao, when he visited them as a new AFP chief.

He said that as a member of the military whose acts and ideals were expressed through signs and symbols, Reyes took his own life on purpose.

He said there was no other way to view the suicide but from a purely military point of view.

Reyes will be buried Sunday at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.