TANGHALANG ATENEO actor Angelo Brillantes (IV BS CTM) committed suicide yesterday morning at his home in Commonwealth, Quezon City.
Brillantes performed in plays May Day Eve, ?: Two by Ionesco, and most recently in Otelo.
His remains are in Mount Carmel Shrine Parish Church in New Manila, Quezon City.
This is the second Atenean-related suicide this semester, following teaching assistant Lorenz Tan’s suicide last July.
As of press time, further details regarding the incident are still unknown.
Editor’s note: This article has been published to inform the Ateneo community on the basic details of Gelo’s death. Some parts of this article have been removed because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Due to the defamatory remarks directed towards the people involved, the obscene language used, and the speculative nature of some comments, the commenting function in this article has been disabled. Some comments have been removed because of these reasons. The GUIDON still welcomes valid and relevant comments regarding this article through email at feedback@theguidon.com.
Please watch out for updates to this story.
Hi! I suggest you momentarily keep the identity of the “certain” girlfriend private. 🙂
Yeah, I agree with the prior comment — should you really be naming the girlfriend in your article? I’m sure she has enough on her plate now without an article essentially accusing her of causing her boyfriend’s suicide flashing her name all over the internet.
Yep, that was quite apathetic…
Hi! Congrats to GUIDON for the quick reporting. Would suggest the paper wait for sources other than anonymous close friends before publically naming someone as the reason for another’s suicide though. 🙂 Good job on the site.
Hi, this is Monique, The GUIDON EIC.
We apologize if we offended anyone by naming the ex-girlfriend. But we are not accusing her as the cause of the suicide. We merely stated what our sources said.
Thank you.
But shouldn’t you verify the data you’ve gathered first before publishing it? Just my two cents right there.
At any rate, I feel awful upon hearing this news.
I hope his close friends knew that they were on the record when you interviewed them. This piece of “news” reads like gossip.
I heard the same story from a guard in SEC but he didn’t claim it as breaking news. I guess he had more class than that.
This is so sad.
Thanks to Guidon for not letting this turn into a fiasco of rumours like what happened to the Philo suicide. I think getting news from a newspaper is better than people gossiping. Please update us with more information and sources. Good job on the site!
Hey just to be fair, I dont think there’s anything wrong with this article. It’s pretty straightforward – if that’s what the friend said from the interview, then that’s what he said. I hope you all didn’t miss out on that phrase.
A mi, me parece el noticia bien. GUIDON ha escrito un articulo justo y considerado. No tiene que disculparse. Mas poder a GUIDON!
“Gelo, as he was more known, hanged himself due to depression after his girlfriend broke up with him, his close friends said.”
“ah, nagbigti si Gelo, depressed siya kasi iniwan siya ng gf niya. narinig ko lang sa kaibigan niya” — is what the GUIDON is “reporting”
Good job!
what were you guys thinking when you wrote: “… hanged himself due to depression after his girlfriend broke up with him…” how could have published this!?
that’s just inappropriate, unethical and downright unethical. stop sensationalizing this tragedy. the guidon is not some tabloid, right?
have some journalistic integrity.
As to what one can classify as real reporting has become so relative these days. Some see this article as very straight-forward and objective while others see it as a form of glorified gossip. I say news is news – it just makes you know that the world is still turning…
As to what one can classify as real reporting has become so relative these days. Some see this article as very straight-forward and objective while others see it as a form of glorified gossip. I say news is news – it just makes you know that the world is still turning…
My condolences to Gelo.
I agree with Angela. and upset reader. and gladly daw.
It’s unfair to Gelo (and to his ex-girlfriend) to broadcast to the entire student body that he “hanged himself due to depression after his girlfriend broke up with him.”
Even his close friends don’t know why he did it. Or his parents.
He didn’t explicitly write that in any suicide note, did he? How can you say that that was the reason?
You can’t publish this as news if you don’t know for certain that it’s the truth.
“Gelo, as he was more known, hanged himself due to depression after his girlfriend broke up with him, his close friends said.”
this sentence should not have been written without sufficient evidence.
I agree with the previous post as well. While it is a fact that his close friends said “he hanged himself due to depression after his girlfriend broke up with him,” it subtly implies that she may have been a cause of tragedy (whether directly or not.)
The fact in itself, is clearly objective, although the source is not. Sorry, I know it doesn’t have to be a big deal (nothing personal or anything) but in any instance that bigger things are at stake, I think it should be made a lesson of. Still, kudos on the speedy reporting.
so this is responsible media???you call yourselves “Official Newpaper of Ateneo”..a “news” based from hearsays
GUIDON is just a BIG TABLOID!!
I am deeply hurt by this article. As his friend, I think that you should’ve waited for people to heal first before you published anything. Get the facts after the mourning process is over. People are still in shock of what happened, and people are still not sure of his reasons.
Responsible journalism entails learning how to respect the privacy of who you’re writing about. And his family and relatives need it more than ever now. You should’ve thought about that before you broadcasted it to the whole Ateneo community.
Maybe now, everyone should just pray for Gelo.
busmate namin siya nung grade school hanggang high school. kapit-bahay rin namin siya. this is sad.
I agree.
This is not a tabloid, Ms. Bueno.
Don’t make it a gossip newsletter.
In my case the only relationship I have with the poor guy is that we both went to the same college so I’m not biased when I say I think The Guidon really should have phrased the incident differently. They could have said ‘he suffered from severe depression’ and left it at that. There was no need to drag the ex-girlfriend into the picture especially when there is no concrete proof as of press time.
Stating that Angelo’s friends ‘said so’ is just hearsay and even if there is some truth to the matter The Guidon has no right to point the finger at the ex-girlfriend. It’s just bad journalism. In cases like this a lot could have been done to report the facts without essentially naming anyone responsible. And anyway it’s not like the ex-girlfriend took Angelo’s own life, she just broke up with him and he was the one who took action. And she’s probably feeling more than enough guilt right now and surely doesn’t need the extra worry about what people will think about her because of this Guidon report.
I’m truly saddened by the circumstances all around which is why I feel so strongly about the way the article was presented. But at the end of it all I agree with Angelo’s when he said we should all just pray for Angelo and hope he finds eternal rest.
I don’t know why this should count as breaking news. Noteworthy enough to print in the monthly paper, sure. But why publish this so soon and without sufficient information?
Simply infuriating, how can any editor let an article like this slide?
I hope I never see this author’s name in any media material ever.
bakit ganon? lagi na lang suicide….
pressure ba or uso lang???
Sa totoo lang, its the paper’s job to be updated… regardless of how sensitive things are because that is the function of a paper: to put the news out there. The paper never assumed anything. Rather, the things that are sensationalized are the reactions of readers. And you cant say that is bad for everyone has an opinon.
As for me i have little sympathy for people who take their own lives. Yeah its sad. But isnt it a selfish thing to commit suicide? Just because you know the victim does not discount the fact that suicide is still not a good thing and a very stupid thing to commit.
wala naman talagang makaka-alam ng rason ng pagpapakamatay ng isang tao. yung nagpakamatay lang ang may alam ng rason.
SuicideIsStupid: please don’t judge someone who committed suicide. You don’t know what’s going on their mind. Who knows maybe he had a disorder and was on medication. Just shut up and don’t be dissin. RESPECT!
Suicideisstupid: Gelo and I used to be close during high school, we were in the same barkada. I respect your comment, but you better know your facts before commenting on an issue as sensitive as this. As suicideisstupidSTUPID said, what if he had a disorder? Or that he was in medication? Sige nga, if the most important person in your life (sige, isipin mo muna kung sino. It may be your mom, dad, best friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, or whoever) committed suicide as well, malamang-lamang iisipin mo katangahan ginawa niya. Pero pano kung nalaman mo na may sakit pala, which led that person to take his own life, tanga pa rin ba yun?
Did you know that people who have mental disorders don’t know what their doing most of the time? Hindi sila aware, okay? How can it be stupid kung hindi mismo alam ng tao na yun na pala ginagawa niya? Please think about it.
I’d have to say that it is a selfish thing to do, but as I said, what if the person who committed suicide was ill?
If you want, we can discuss this in person. I’m up for a good discussion about this matter. I can’t speak for all the people who have committed the same thing in the past, but this person that you’re talking about is my friend. I’d gladly explain to you everything that I know.
close pala kayo eh e di you should know it wasnt a mental disorder. Just saying. peace out. 🙂 i respect you and i pray for Gelo’s happiness.
I know that it’s the Guidon’s responsibility to give news to the student body. But news as grave and as sad as this, i believe, should just be kept private – especially the details you are proclaiming to be true. Did Guidon even ask the permission of Gelo’s PARENTS to publish this? They are the ones greatly affected by this tragedy and i would think that they would want their son to be given privacy. PLEASE RESPECT GELO’S PRIVACY. Do NOTHING MORE than pray for him. That’s all we should do for him now.
If no one is sure as to why Gelo did it, then no one can actually “know” and verify, right? However, I’d rather trust studies that continue to prove and show that suicide is in fact primarily caused by depression.
And even if he had a mental illness, not surprisingly, that too can be caused by depression. Whatever it was, I’d say he was sure as hell depressed.
My condolences go to Gelo as well
To Suicideisstupid, Karina Palomer, and to everyone else who are planning to comment about this issue, please respect Gelo’s privacy nalang. If you’re going to post something here, don’t say anything bad. And further more, don’t speculate.
I am sorry for my previous post, because I risked revealing Gelo and his family’s privacy regarding this matter, due to my emotions. Once again, I am sorry. Pero respeto lang sa lahat ng mga taong nagmamahal kay Gelo, lahat ng konektado sa kanya, at higit sa lahat, kay Gelo at sa pamilya niya mismo. Tama na, wag natin gawing chismis ‘to. Please. And if you have nothing nice to say, please extend your condolences nalang.
To clarify, i havent said anything bad. I only wanted to prevent people from getting misled about this case being a mental disorder by the things aforementioned by you nica when it’s really not. And of all people you should know since close kayo. I respect Gelo and his family and i too pray for him. I am one with all of you who do. But for all intents, dont try to shift the ground to one more vague and farther from the truth. Thats all. There is nothing bad in my clarification, miss nica. I was just saying. that’s all.
If yan na yung tingin mo, then I’ll respect that. Thank you for your clarification, but before he passed away, Gelo and I were able to talk about a lot of things that have happened in our lives for the past years, but I think that there is no need for me to elaborate on that anymore. I know we have different opinions on what happened, and let’s just leave it at that. You may be right on this matter, and I may be wrong, but it can also work vice versa.
Salamat sa prayers, it is greatly appreciated.
“Sa totoo lang, its the paper’s job to be updated… regardless of how sensitive things are because that is the function of a paper: to put the news out there. The paper never assumed anything. Rather, the things that are sensationalized are the reactions of readers. And you cant say that is bad for everyone has an opinon.”
May dalawang klase ng updated pag dating sa print media: yung pang-dyaryo na updated at yug pang-tabloid.
Kapag namention ang mga chismis bilang katotohanan, napapalapit ang artikulo sa pagka-tabloid.